A comprehensive resource for safe and responsible laser use

On November 1 2018, a Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) helicopter pilot searching for a murder suspect was illuminated in the right eye by a green laser. This caused temporary blindness and a throbbing pain, which in turn caused the search to be aborted. Instead, the pilot and the tactical officer searched for and found the person aiming the laser. The pain continued for approximately two days.

Two weeks later, FBI agents interviewed Clack. He said his friend had purchased the laser pointer and claimed the light could reach the moon. Clack then decided to aim it at a helicopter. He said this was done out of "stupidity" and he did not intend to harm anyone.

Sherryol Elton Clack, Jr.

On February 15 2019 Clack took a plea deal for the offense of Aiming a Laser Pointer at an Aircraft. Details of the deal were not available. If the judge approves the plea deal, Clack will be sentenced later to a term of up to five years in prison.

A San Diego Superior Court jury could not agree to convict Robert Louis Silva, Jr. on a felony charge of discharging a laser at an occupied aircraft.

On March 20 2018 a police helicopter was illuminated by a purple laser beam for about one minute. The pilot had eye irritation and put on night vision goggles. Silva, 33, was located on Fiesta Island and was arrested.

At trial, Silva told the jury he thought he was aiming at a drone piloted by a friend, and stopped when he realized he was instead aiming at a helicopter.

Prosecutors pointed out the difference between the helicopter and a drone, saying "He knew what he was doing. It was intentional. He didn't think he'd get found."

Silva's attorney noted that the helicopter was four miles away and thus looked smaller. She said "malicious intent" was required to convict, and that Silva did not have any intent to harm. She said "he profusely and repeatedly apologized" to police during his arrest, and that police did not go to look for the drone operator.

The jury deadlocked after four hours of deliberation on January 16 2019. Nine jurors voted to acquit and the remaining three jurors voted to convict.

The judge declared a mistrial and ordered Silva to return in late January to schedule dates for a possible re-trial. Silva remains free on $25,000 bond.

A National Police Air Service helicopter looking for a missing person in Hatfield on November 4 2018 had the search interrupted when a laser was aimed at the aircraft. Police described it as a "persistent laser attack."

A 30-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of recklessly endangering an aircraft, and the laser was recovered by Welwyn Hatfield South Police.

A Columbus, Ohio, man was indicted August 29 2018 for aiming a laser at police helicopters and a Southwest Airlines flight that was trying to land at John Glenn International Airport.

On July 18, "numerous" Columbus Police Department helicopters were repeatedly illuminated by a green laser beam. (It is not clear if this happened before, during or after the illumination of the Southwest flight.)

Ground units located Eugene Lamont Robinson, 36, and confiscated a six-inch "Laser 303" device. He was found at a location about 10 miles from the airport.

A "Laser 303" is a generic type of handheld laser, usually well over the 5 mW U.S. limit for laser pointers. It uses one 18650 battery and costs as little as USD $10.

Robinson was indicted on four counts of Interfering with the Operation of an Aircraft with a Laser. This is a second degree felony; he could receive up to 20 years in jail if convicted.

A Florida woman has been arrested for aiming a green laser beam multiple times at a Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office helicopter on June 21 2018. The pilot received “immediate” medical attention and did not appear to be injured.

Jacqueline Robledo, 33, of Lake Worth, was arrested. She told officers she was aware that the laser light could cause blindness. She was charged with misuse of a laser lighting device and was held on $3,000 bond.

Two 15-year-olds were arrested after aiming a laser beam, at least twice over a half hour, at an Anaheim (Calif.) Police Department helicopter.

On June 19 2018 at about 12:30 am, a green laser beam was aimed at the cockpit from an apartment building balcony. The crew could identify the apartment complex the beam came from, but not a specific unit.

At about 1 am, the helicopter cockpit was again illuminated by a laser beam. This time the crew could see from which unit the beam came. Ground officers then went to the apartment, where they handcuffed and arrested the 15-year-old males.

The teens are led down the apartment staircase to a waiting police car. They were later released to their parents.

An unnamed Kansas City woman was arrested for a May 5 2018 incident where a laser beam was aimed at a Kansas City police helicopter.

The pilot was temporarily disoriented. He put on night vision goggles to prevent laser light from directly entering his eyes. He was able to direct officers on the ground to the woman, who was inside a car with a “long black cylinder-shaped laser pointer in her hand.”

Federal charges were filed against the 31-year-old woman.

According to KSHB, “Kansas City Police said the pilot flying the KCPD helicopter last month [May 2018] had a temporary deficiency in his vision and is currently recovering. The pilot is expected to return and fly again.”

The FBI said there were 110 cases of pilots reporting laser illuminations in Kansas City during 2017.

In January 2017, Jordan Clarence Rogers was sentenced to three years in federal prison for an October 2013 incident where he aimed a laser at a Kansas City police helicopter multiple times, resulting in several hours of eye strain for the pilot.

A Salford (Greater Manchester) man aimed a laser pen at a police helicopter for up to 10 minutes, according to testimony in court on May 24 2018. The pilot was dazzled and “had to take action to avoid losing his vision.”

The pilot directed police on the ground to the home of Darren Kenyon, 48. He told them he had been “playing” with the laser by pointing it out his bathroom window. The laser had been purchased by one of his six children while on holiday.

Darren Kenyon

In Manchester magistrates court, Kenyon pleaded guilty to reckless behavior likely to endanger an aircraft. He will be sentenced at crown court.

A National Police Air Service helicopter was repeatedly illuminated by a green laser, while searching on May 7 2018 for a 73-year-old woman who was reported missing.

The NPAS crew contacted police in Preston, Lancashire who located and “detained the offender.” It is not known how much the persistent laser light disrupted the search for the woman. She was later found by a member of the public after a social media alert was posted.

A 40-year-old man who had an outstanding warrant for his arrest aimed a green laser beam at an Omaha police helicopter on April 22 2018 — leading to his arrest.

The unnamed man was a passenger in a car when he aimed at the helicopter. The aircrew radioed to a ground unit that stopped the car. The man told the officer that a misdemeanor warrant had been issued for his arrest.

He was charged on the warrant and for violating his probation. Apparently, he was not charged for the laser offense.

A 29-year-old man was arrested for aiming a laser at aircraft landing at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, and at a King’s County sheriff’s helicopter.

On March 13 2018, the Sea-Tac control tower notified the helicopter, Guardian 1, that a laser was being aimed at inbound aircraft. The approximate location was the Burien Transit Center bus station. The helicopter was able to locate a man, who pointed a green laser beam at the aircraft. Officers on the ground arrested the man, who was not named in press reports.

According to the arresting officers, the man said he was showing his friend a new laser, and the man was “accidentally” aiming near the airport. The man also said he deliberately aimed the laser at the helicopter but “didn’t think it was a big deal.”

The laser caused a brief interruption of SeaTac Airport flight duties and prevented pilots from looking outside the aircraft.

A green laser beam was aimed at a CHP helicopter several times. The crew was able to direct ground officers to a white sedan, where the 23-year-old was arrested and faces “several state and federal felony charges.”

From KVTU.com. See also this story about lasers being aimed into the crowd at a December 2017 Oakland sideshow.

A 15-year-old boy from Bradenton Florida was arrested for aiming a green laser beam multiple times at a Manatee County Sheriff’s Office helicopter on December 12 2017.

The helicopter crew directed ground officers to a home in Bradenton, where the teen was arrested. According to a sheriff’s office spokesperson, the boy was not able to explain why he pointed the laser at the helicopter.

A 31-year-old man from Turlock, California, was indicted December 14 2017 on two federal counts of aiming a laser beam at aircraft.

On October 22 2017, Roger Shane John struck a Stanislaus County Sheriff’s Department helicopter five to six times with a green laser, causing visual interference and disrupting an air support response to a domestic violence call.

At around the same time, John also aimed a laser 3-4 times at CalStar 12, an emergency medical helicopter.

Conviction would result in jail time of up to five years, and a fine of up to $250,000.

John had numerous prior run-ins with law enforcement, including convictions for domestic violence, identity theft, possession of a controlled substance for sale, being a felon in possession of a firearm and making threats with intent to terrorize.

Officers in a helicopter flying for the Pasco (Florida) County Sheriff’s Office were illuminated by laser light on December 5 2017. The pilot landed the aircraft in an empty parking lot, walked to the suspect’s home, and detained him.

Pilot Stephen Bowman was assisting with a situation involving a barricaded suspect, when he was hit by the laser at around 10:50 pm. Bowman told Bay News 9, “It blinded us temporarily for a couple of seconds — extremely painful. Once we came to, we saw a couple more flashes from the laser." Examination of video from the helicopter showed about 10 flashes.

Bowman began tracking the suspect. After landing the helicopter and going to the suspect’s home, there he detained Ryan Fluke, 27.

Bowman said Fluke was “a little confused”, asking where the helicopter was. Fluke also told Bowman he was doing it for fun. Fluke did not realize that lasers could travel a long distance (the helicopter was about 800 feet in the air). Fluke apologized to Bowman.

Fluke was charged with a third-degree felony, misuse of laser lighting devices. He had 12 previous arrests in Pasco County.

A man who claimed he was aiming a laser at a drone, was charged on November 30 2017 with aiming a laser pointer into a Border Patrol helicopter flying near Chula Vista, California.

On August 19 2017, the helicopter was flying over power lines when the cockpit lit up briefly with laser light. The helicopter spotter had to close his eyes. The pilot then aimed the aircraft’s searchlight down at the source of the laser beam, a person in a Jeep Patriot. The laser continued to be aimed at the helicopter.

Chula Vista police stopped the SUV. 27-year-old Michael Angelo Ramirez, a passenger, told them he shined the laser at what he thought was a drone, and the drone aimed a light back. He said he turned off the laser once he realized he had hit a helicopter.

However, the driver of the Jeep told police that it was clear the aircraft was a helicopter and not a drone.

Ramirez was taken into custody and later was released. After his arraignment on November 30 2017 he was taken back into custody. Ramirez faces up to five years in jail and up to a $250,000 fine.

A 35-year-old man was arrested for aiming a laser pointer at a Hernando County (Fla.) Sheriff’s Office helicopter on November 26 2017.

The aircraft was searching for a missing child at the time. The pilot and tactical flight officer were illuminated five times by the laser. It affected their ability to see and to give updated locations of the child, whom they had spotted shortly before the laser strikes.

Eric D. Harper was arrested at his home. Harper admitted to aiming at the aircraft. He told the arresting officers that he was sorry and he was unaware aiming a laser at an aircraft was illegal.

Note from LaserPointerSafety.com: Both stories quoted the sheriff’s office as saying that viewing a laser from infrared equipment such as FLIR cameras can severely damage the human eye.” This is not true. The laser may cause the FLIR viewing screen to “bloom” to full white or full green, which is very bright and of course can interfere with vision. The laser might even damage the FLIR sensor. But the FLIR sensor stops the laser beam itself — no laser light can enter the eye, and thus no eye damage could occur.

A man in a moving car aimed a green laser beam at a Fresno (Calif.) Police Department helicopter. A passenger in the car said the man, Michael Vincent Alvarez, did it because he “thought it would be funny to point a laser at the helicopter.” Alvarez then led officers on a high-speed chase which ended when the car crashed into a median; he suffered minor injuries.

At about 12:45 am on October 22 2017, the helicopter was providing support to ground units responding to a domestic violence disturbance when it was continuously illuminated by a green laser beam. The tactical flight officer was hit three times in the eyes.

The pilot had momentary flashblindness and lost night vision. The tactical flight officer had watering eyes, discomfort and pain. There was no reported eye injury.

The helicopter broke off from its mission to pursue the laser perpetrator.

The beam came from the driver’s side of a car traveling north on Highway 99 in Fresno. Ground officers pursued Alvarez’s car, which began a high-speed chase. Twice during the chase Alvarez stopped to drop off passengers. The car eventually crashed into a median. Alvarez got out and ran towards neighboring homes. He was apprehended by officers in the backyard of a home after a short foot pursuit.

Alvarez had minor injuries from the crash and was taken to a hospital for treatment. At the hospital, a baggie was found with substances suspected to be marijuana, cocaine and methamphetamine.

Inside the car’s driver side door pocket police found a laser marked “Laser 303” with a green multi-dot beam (perhaps a diffraction grating making a star-field-like pattern) and a danger label.

After an FBI investigation, Alvarez was charged with violating federal law by knowingly aiming the beam of a laser pointer at an aircraft or its flight path. In addition, there were two previous felony warrants out for Alvarez’s arrest on other, unspecified charges.

From a report by Cyrus Farivar of Ars Technica. The criminal complaint filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California is here.

UPDATED May 7 2018 — Michael Vincent Alvarez was sentenced to 18 months in prison for the October 22 2017 incident. From KMPH and the Fresno Bee.

A 25-year-old man from Coalville, Utah, was indicted on November 2 2017 for aiming a laser two times at an AirMed helicopter.

The first laser strike occurred about 3 a.m. on August 28 2017 as the pilot was flying from Wyoming to Salt Lake City. On the return flight, the pilot was illuminated again, from the same location. He identified a vehicle for the Summit County Sheriff’s Office, who dispatched ground units that arrested Ryan Michael Kane.

If convicted, Kane could be sentenced to up to five years in prison and up to a $250,000 fine.

UPDATED July 12 2018: The perpetrator, identified as “Michael Ray Kane” a 26-year-old carpenter from Coalville (near Salt Lake City), was sentenced July 12 2018 to three years of probation. The sentence came “moments after the pilot described how night-vision goggles intensified the beam, but he did not sustain any permanent damage that would threaten his livelihood.” He was also banned from possessing a laser pointer during the probationary period, and must submit to periodic drug tests.

In March 2018 Kane pleaded guilty in exchange for prosecutors seeking a six month prison term. (He could have served up to five years and been fined up to $250,000.)

U.S. District Judge Dale Kimball may have decided on probation after hearing that Kane had come to realize that what he did was dangerous, had cooperated with investigators, had a child, and had stopped using marijuana. Kimball told Kane “I'm satisfied that you're finally growing up, but I'm telling you, do not get in any more trouble.”

A teenager was arrested on October 5 2017 for aiming a laser at a Police Service of Northern Ireland helicopter.

The aircraft was monitoring crowds attending a football match in Belfast. The unnamed 19-year-old was charged with endangering the safety of an aircraft and shining a light to dazzle or distract a pilot.

A 45-year-old man from Centreville (Va.) was arrested for aiming a blue laser pointer three times at a Fairfax County Police Department helicopter on September 23 2017.

According to a police Facebook post, “the officers were temporarily blinded by the laser, but there were no serious injuries.” The source of the laser was traced to a vehicle on Manassas Gap Court in Centreville.

Carlos Zapata Rivero was charged with shining a light/laser pointer at an aircraft, which is a Class 1 misdemeanor.

Trial of a Cayman man, charged with multiple counts of aiming a red laser beam at a police helicopter, began September 13 2017. The incident took place on April 29 2015.

Officers on the ground had seen a red laser beam that appeared to be attached to a firearm. The helicopter was sent to investigate. A detective in the helicopter testified that he saw a bright red light which was pointed at the aircraft numerous times. The detective said he was worried for the pilot’s vision, and also that the laser could be attached to a weapon.

He radioed a description of the suspect to ground officers. Based on his appearance, officers approached Javonnie Silburn, then approximately 19 years old. They asked if he had a laser; Silburn said yes and showed them a device that had both an LED light and a red laser beam. He was arrested on a charge of endangering an aircraft.

Later Silburn told police that he did not do it, that it was another man.

Prior to the trial, Silburn attempted to plead guilty to shining the laser at the helicopter one time. But the Crown did not accept the plea due to the multiple times the laser was directed at the aircraft.

The endangerment charge was apparently dropped. Silburn, now 21, is being tried on a charge of using threatening, abusive or insulting words or behavior within the sight or hearing of a person likely to be caused harassment, alarm or distress.

Under cross-examination on the first day of the trial, the detective admitted he could not say definitely that Silburn was the person with the laser, only that he identified a man with an Afro hairstyle and short pants.

According to the Cayman Compass, there was a separate laser incident in November 2015 involving police aircraft.

Around 1 am on August 9 2017, a Charlotte-Mecklenburg (NC) Police Department helicopter was targeted by a green laser pointer. The crew spotted a person standing outside a vehicle, holding a laser.

They notified ground officers who located the vehicle, found a laser inside, and arrested 18-year-old Abrahan Saloman Nass Romero, aka Abrahan Nasser. The officers also found marijuana in the vehicle.

Abrahan Saloman Nass Romero

Romero was charged with pointing a laser at an aircraft — a felony — and with possession of marijuana up to one-half ounce. Records show Romero had previously been arrested for marijuana possession, for speeding, and for driving without a license.

Since January 2017 there have been 19 incidents reported to the Federal Aviation Administration of lasers being pointed at aircraft in the Charlotte area.

A 47-year-old Georgia man was arrested for aiming a laser at a Gwinnett County police helicopter.

On July 5 2017, the helicopter pilots saw green laser light in the cockpit. They were able to trace it to a location in Johns Creek where ground officers arrested Marius Lizunas. He told them he was using a laser rangefinder to “check the range” to the aircraft.

UPDATED December 22 2017 - Cameron was sentenced September 7 2017 to hours of unpaid work and to supervision. As of December 21 2017, Cameron had not yet been provided with information about the unpaid work order, or the start date. A court review hearing was set for March 23 2018. From the Clydebank Post.

Connor Grant Brown, 30, was arrested for aiming a green laser pointer about eight times at a Maryland State Police helicopter on January 16 2017. The crew abandoned their mission (looking for a man running barefoot in cold temperatures), and landed. Two of the four persons on board — the pilot and the crew chief — went to Frederick Memorial Hospital for treatment. They were later released but will have to return for follow-up testing. The two men went back to work the following day.

Connor Grant Brown

Brown faces state charges of reckless endangerment, obstructing and hindering, and shining a laser pointer at an aircraft.

According to a trooper who was in the helicopter, the laser had a power of 100 milliwatts. The U.S. limit for laser pointers is 5 milliwatts. [The laser itself is legal, but it is illegal to sell lasers over 5 milliwatts as a “pointer” or for pointing purposes. And of course it is illegal to aim a laser pointer at an aircraft in the U.S.]

The trooper also said “he experienced spots on his vision after the laser hit the helicopter, as if he had just looked at the sun. While most sun spots disappear in a few blinks, the spots from the laser did not. He also experienced minor pain that he described to be similar to windburn.”

The trooper said the helicopter pilot described his vision as “sandy.”

A statement of probable cause described Brown’s explanation to troopers regarding why he aimed the laser at the helicopter.

At about 1 am Brown woke up due to a “buzzing sound.” The unknown aircraft flew over his house “every minute, at some points shaking the windows.” Brown aimed his $20 internet-purchased laser “to signal the operator to stop flying so close to the house.”

After police showed up at his house, “my heart sank in my chest.” He apologized and said he did not mean to cause any harm from his “horrible, horrible mistake… From start to finish, what I did was wrong.”

On April 5 2016, Tane Hemopo, 39, was arrested for repeatedly aiming a “high powered” laser pointer at two passenger planes landing at Christchurch Airport. In one case, a Virgin Airlines aircraft with 121 passengers was illuminated for about 20 seconds while at 20,000 feet altitude, then was illuminated an additional three times while on final landing approach. The pilots were dazzled but did not report more serious eye effects. He also aimed at the airport control tower.

Hemopo admitted aiming at the aircraft, but not at the cockpit. He further said he was unaware the laser light could be dangerous.

In August 2016 Hemopo pleaded guilty to charges of “causing unnecessary danger.” This has a fine of up to NZD $10,000 and one year in prison.

The Crown dropped charges of “reckless disregard for the safety of others,” which has a maximum penalty of 14 years.

On September 28 2016, Hemopo failed to appear for sentencing. The judge issued an arrest warrant for Hemopo.

A 32-year-old man aimed a “multicolored LED laser light” at a Spokane (Wash.) County Sheriff’s Office helicopter on September 17 2016. The crew notified deputies on the ground of the laser’s location.

When deputies arrived, they told Brandon J. Neeser to show his hands. Neeser pointed the laser device at the deputies. They saw it was not connected to a gun so they did not take defensive action. The deputies arrested Neeser, who told them he did not know it was illegal and he “thought it would be funny” to aim at the helicopter because they were aiming a light at him.

On September 13 2016, Christopher B. Evans pleaded guilty to aiming a laser pointer at a flying aircraft.

Evans, 25, of San Antonio, Texas, worked as a security guard in a medical clinic. Workers at the clinic told FBI agents that Evans had laser pointers of different colors and sometimes aimed them at employees.

On October 27 2015, Evans stood outside the clinic and lit up a WOAI-TV news helicopter three times with a green laser:

Evans in the clinic parking lot, aiming his laser pointer

The laser beam goes directly into the cockpit

The helicopter pilot was able to help ground officers find Evans’ location. Evans initially denied his involvement to investigating FBI agents. After questioning with a polygraph, Evans said he did hit the helicopter and in fact had previously aimed lasers at other aircraft as well.

Evans will be sentenced December 12. He could receive up to five years in federal prison and be fined up to $250,000.

This is the second guilty plea in Texas this month. Juan Peralez, 57, of La Joya Texas pleaded guilty on September 2 to aiming a laser pointer at a Border Patrol Helicopter.

A 41-year-old man was arrested for a September 5 2016 incident where a Police Scotland helicopter was illuminated by laser light. The man was on Trafalgar Street in Clydebank, about 5 miles northwest of Glasgow, when the laser pen attack occurred.

A police spokesperson said “It is an offense we take extremely seriously and people need to realize the dangers of this reckless behavior. Our message is clear, use them and you will be arrested.”

Juan Peralez, 57, of La Joya Texas pleaded guilty on September 2 2016 to aiming a laser pointer at a Border Patrol Helicopter.

The incident occurred on June 20 2016, when the helicopter pilot had to take evasive action to avoid the green beam. Another crew member guided ground officers to the laser perpetrator, where Peralez was arrested.

Juan Peralez

He will be sentenced November 17 to up to five years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000.

A teenager was arrested after aiming the green beam from a pellet gun’s laser sight at an Air2 police helicopter in Vaughn, Canada, a town just north of Toronto, on August 16 2016.

An infrared camera onboard the aircraft helped the crew locate the source of the laser beam. Ground officers found the pellet gun, which 19-year-old Nicholas Caranci had thrown to the ground as he ran away. The IR camera helped the helicopter crew direct officers to the teen’s location.

In an attempt to escape arrest, Nicholas Carianci ran from the court at right and hopped over a fence, after throwing his pellet gun with a laser sight into weeds (green circle). Thanks to the helicopter IR surveillance camera, police were able to pick up both the teen and the pellet gun.

Caranci was arrested and charged with mischief endangering life, unlawfully engaging in behavior that endangers an aircraft, and projecting a bright light source into navigable airspace.

Two brothers from McAllen, Texas were arrested for aiming a laser at an Air and Marine Operations helicopter.

The incident happened August 25 2016 in Mission, Texas. The pilot’s vision was temporarily impaired as the laser light lit up the cockpit. The pilot directed ground officers to a home, where Aaron Caceres, 27, and his brother Francisco Caceres, 24, confessed to the laser misuse.

Aaron (27) and Francisco (24) Caceres

They were charged with illumination of aircraft by intense light, a Class A misdemeanor.

On July 23 2016, a Portland police aircraft was illuminated by laser light. The beam was traced to David Martinez, 37, who was arrested on charges of recklessly endangering another person, and unlawful directing light from a laser pointer. The laser pointer was confiscated.

David Martinez

While the first incident was being investigated, another laser illuminated the aircraft. This was traced to a 7-year-old. The child’s mother was given the laser pointer, along with a lecture about the dangers of aiming at aircraft. The child was not charged.

The distance between the two laser users was about 4 miles. The map below shows the ground location of the first and second incidents:

On July 25 Martinez pleaded not guilty to the two charges. He has prior court records which include felony unauthorized use of a vehicle and failure to appear. He also has been charged with heroin delivery and possession of heroin and methamphetamine; that case is pending.

A 23-year-old Corpus Christi, Texas woman was arrested July 10 2016 for aiming a laser pointer at a helicopter flying in a low-income area of Houston.

The helicopter was lased twice while in the air, and a third time when it landed. Officers traced the laser to Emily Ann Hunter. She was charged with illumination of an aircraft, a misdemeanor. Bond was set at $1,000.

A 26-year-old man was arrested on July 8 2016, for repeatedly aiming green laser light at a Marion County (Florida) sheriff’s helicopter.

Officers in the helicopter were searching for a kidnapping suspect when they were illuminated 15-20 times as they flew over Weirsdale, Florida, about an hour northwest of Orlando. The pilot was directly hit in the eyes “at least five times” according to a Sheriff’s Office spokesperson.

The airborne officers used night-vision equipment to find Phillip Willman. He was arrested and told officers he only aimed the laser at the helicopter once. Willman was charged with six counts of pointing laser light at a driver or pilot.

Phillip Willman

The Sheriff’s Office spokesperson said that during 2016, there have been “over five” incidents where lasers were aimed at helicopters, two of which ended with an arrest.

A 23-year-old who said he was attending flight school to become a pilot was arrested Jan 3 2016 for aiming a green laser beam at an American Airlines flight landing at Daytona Beach International Airport, and at the control tower of the airport.

The control tower had called police around 10 pm after the two laser illuminations. Using binoculars, an air traffic controller had spotted a person in the area where the laser light came from.

Police picked up Gerardo Sanchez “because he was the only one walking near the airport” at the time. Sanchez had a laser on him, and told an officer he had been pointing the laser in different directions. He said he had aimed it in the general direction of an aircraft, and at the control tower several times. Sanchez said he was studying to be a pilot at the ATP Flight School, located at the airport; ATP had not confirmed whether Sanchez was a student.

Two air traffic controllers had laser light in their eyes. One pilot told police “the green laser did affect him for about one or two seconds because it was pointed at his eyes.” The other pilot saw the beam but the light was not pointed directly at him.

Gerardo Sanchez

Sanchez was charged with pointing a laser light at a driver/pilot, which is a felony.

From the Daytona Beach News-Journal. Note: Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, also located in Daytona Beach, lists a “Gerardo Sanchez” as a student of theirs who was hired April 2014 as an instructor pilot by the Saudi Flight Academy. The photo shows an older person who does not resemble the 23-year-old Gerardo Sanchez who claimed to be a student pilot. We are mentioning this to avoid any confusion between the two Sanchez’s.

Two news helicopters were illuminated with green laser light around 5:30 pm local time in the New York City borough of Brooklyn, as they hovered to cover a story about a stolen Greyhound bus. A NY Police Department helicopter called to the scene also had a green beam aimed at it.

[Note: The publicity from this led to widespread news stories that the 20 total incidents which happened that night was a large number. In fact, it was only slightly more than the current 2015 average of 18.3 reported incidents per night. More on this in a story in the News/Statistics section.]

One person tracked the aircraft and tweeted the resulting map (below). It shows aircraft converging on Atlantic Terminal Mall, an urban shopping center across Atlantic Avenue from the Barclays Center sports arena near the Fort Greene and Clinton Hill areas of Brooklyn.

WNBC Chopper 4 pilot Dennis Protsko helped police locate the source of the laser, a group of people in the rear of the “Energy Fuel” health food restaurant on Fulton Street.

From WNBC Chopper 4

According to NBCNewYork, “the cook was found holding a frying pan with the laser inside it when police went to the restaurant. He told police pointing the laser was meant to be a joke, according to sources. “

Two people were taken into custody. The cook, 20-year-old Ossieo Silva of the Flatbush-Ditmas Park section of Brooklyn, was arrested. He was charged with two counts of reckless endangerment; one is a felony and one is a misdemeanor.

The New York Daily News quoted court documents as saying that Silva told police he never pointed a light at helicopters before, and he “thought it would be funny.” Bail was set at $20,000.

Some stories — and the tweet above — said three news helicopters, from WABC, WCBS and WNBC were involved in Brooklyn. Other stories said there were two helicopters, from WCBS and WNBC. The confusion may be due to the fact that WABC’s NewsCopter 7 was involved in an earlier New Jersey lasing incident. (It may also be that the WABC aircraft flew from New Jersey to the Brooklyn scene and thus was involved in both incidents.)

About thirty minutes before the Brooklyn incident, a laser was pointed at a WABC news helicopter flying over Elizabeth, New Jersey, which is about 12 miles straight-line from the Atlantic Terminal Mall and is near Newark Liberty Airport. The crew contacted police and assisted them in locating the source. A 26-year-old man was arrested and charged with interference with transportation and utilizing a laser toward an aircraft.

A 37-year-old Dallas man pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court on November 3 2015 to aiming a laser pointer at an aircraft.

The incident occurred on May 30 2015. Orlando Jose Chapa was in his driveway when he aimed a laser beam at a Department of Public Safety helicopter. He was arrested on September 23 2015, after being indicted by a federal grand jury.

He remains free on bond; a sentencing date has not been set. He could receive up to five years in jail and a fine of up to $250,000.

A Florida man aimed a Bosley LaserComb, used to stimulate hair growth, at a Marion County Sheriff’s helicopter on September 2 2015. The pilot was temporarily blinded. In addition, his night vision goggles were overwhelmed by the bright light.

The helicopter crew radioed ground officers, who arrested Mark A. Geohagan, 55, of Ocala. He told officers it was “not a laser” but a laser comb. Geohagan said he was testing the distance the light could reach, and that he meant no harm. Geohagan was charged a few hours later with pointing a laser light at a driver or pilot.

Mark A. Geohagan. His middle name was variously reported as “Allen” or “Albert”

The Bosley LaserComb Elite used by Geohagan has nine red 650nm laser diodes arranged in a line, that normally are directed towards a person’s scalp. When aimed into space, it produces a single, “extremely bright” spot of light as described in more detail after the “Read More…” link below.

From the Ocala StarBanner and Orlando Sentinel. Thanks to Chuck Maricle, Ph.D., for background information on hair comb products. For additional description and analysis of laser combs, click the “read more…” link.

Two persons were arrested for aiming a laser at a Los Angeles County Sheriff’s helicopter at about 11:30 pm on August 11 2015.

The helicopter crew, who were on a training mission, were able to trace the beam to a home in Agoura Hills, California. Arrested were 31-year-old Christopher Cooper and 33-year-old Tanjelina Meredith. They were charged with suspicion of discharging a laser at an aircraft, a felony.

A south London teenager was arrested on July 27 2015 for aiming a laser pen at a Metropolitan Police helicopter. The aircraft was searching for a burglar when it was repeatedly hit. The crew identified the source, and the boy was arrested about an hour later. He was charged with endangering an aircraft.

A 23-year-old man from rural Alvarado, Texas was arrested July 22 2015 on suspicion of aiming a laser at eight commercial aircraft as well as a Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) helicopter and a Fort Worth police helicopter.

Beginning at about 10 pm local time on July 21, until about 1 am on July 22, eight aircraft flying near Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport reported seeing green laser light. These included flights from American Airlines, Envoy (formerly American Eagle), Southwest Airlines and FedEx. The aircraft were at altitudes between 7,000 and 10,000 feet when they reported seeing the laser light.

Air traffic controllers routed other aircraft around the area where the laser beams originated. A DPS helicopter sent to investigate was also targeted by the laser beam, which led deputies to a home in Alvarado, which is about 35 miles south-southwest of DFW.

The three persons in the home initially denied doing anything wrong. Once deputies said there was video from the helicopter, Austin Lawrence Siferd admitted pointing a laser at the aircraft, “not realizing it was actually strong enough to reach the aircraft,” said a law enforcement spokesperson.

The local NBC station quoted Siferd’s fiancée, Brenda Arnold, as saying she purchased the laser for him: “I think that he probably did think that they were just looking at the stars. I really don't think he meant anything intentional. I really don’t.”

Siferd was charged with illumination of an aircraft by an intense light, a misdemeanor. Bond was set at $300. More severe federal charges are pending.

Austin Lawrence Siferd

According to a Federal Aviation Administration spokesperson, no one was injured by the laser light. She also said there had been 59 reported laser incidents in North Texas from January 1 to July 22, 2015.

A Bakersfield (Calif.) man was indicted July 16 2015 by a federal grand jury for aiming a green laser pointer at a Kern County Sheriff’s helicopter. The device was key-activated and was labeled “Laser 301.” He faces up to five years in prison and/or a fine of up to $250,000.

Pablo Cesar Sahagun, 26, was also charged with possessing seven “cricket bombs,” made by filling an empty CO2 cartridge with gunpowder or flash powder, and attaching a fuse. If convicted, Sahagun would face an additional ten years and/or a fine of up to $10,000.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Karen A. Escobar is prosecuting the case.

From the U.S. Attorney’s Office Eastern District of California press release dated July 21 2015

UPDATED - April 18 2016: Sahagun was sentenced to 18 months in prison. He had pleaded guilty on January 11 2016. From Bakersfield.com

On July 1 2015, pilots landing at Phoenix Deer Valley Airport reported being targeted with a green laser. A Phoenix Police helicopter sent to investigate flew a pattern similar to aircraft on approach, and drew laser fire from Scott Allen Hines, 25.

Scott Hines

Ground officers arrested Hines on four counts of endangerment: two for the police helicopter occupants, and two for the pilots of a fixed wing aircraft that was earlier hit by the laser.

The police pilots reported having headaches and seeing spots due to the laser exposure.

Two Orlando men, who had just bought new laser pointers, aimed them into the sky to test the beams’ distance. Bystanders told them to point at airplanes, so the men began a competition to see who could target more aircraft.

The contest took place on July 7 2015. One of the aircraft was a Sheriff’s Office helicopter. Ground officers arrested Rolando Espinoza, 22, and Shannan Winemiller, 21. Espinoza told deputies “he thought he heard that it’s illegal to point lasers at airplanes, but he wasn’t sure at the time.” Each man was charged with pointing a laser light at a driver or pilot, a third degree felony in Florida.

From January 1 to July 7 2015, there were 47 laser/aircraft incidents reported to the FBI in Central and Southwest Florida. Sixteen of these were in the Orlando area.

A man was arrested July 5 2015 for aiming a green laser pointer at an Oklahoma City police helicopter. William Ernst, 23, was a passenger in a car at a drive-thru restaurant when he repeatedly targeted the aircraft. The pilot radioed to ground officers, who arrested Ernst on the laser charge, as well as for possession of fireworks and public drunkenness.

A 24-year-old man from Moreno Valley, California was charged May 18 2015 in federal court with aiming a green laser beam at a Riverside County Sheriff’s Department helicopter. Miguel Avalos will be arraigned June 24 2015. He faces a maximum penalty of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

The incident happened February 10 2014. The helicopter was helping to locate an Alzheimer’s patient. The green laser light caused the pilot “to become momentarily dazed by the intense light and caused him to lose the abiity to see outside the cockpit’s windows.”

Humberside Police announced April 10 2015 that two men had been charged with a February 11 2015 incident where a green laser light was aimed at a police helicopter flying over the Carnaby area of East Yorkshire. The helicopter team sent a tweet afterwards: “Whilst conducting search [we were] lasered. Speechless!”

On March 26 2015, a federal grand jury indicted two California men for aiming green laser beams at law enforcement helicopters. In both cases, the air crews involved experienced vision difficulties.

Case 1: Johnny Alexander Quenga, 28, of Fresno

On March 5 2015, the Fresno Police Department helicopter Air 1 was illuminated by green laser light about six times over ten minutes. One crew member, who had been illuminated by lasers numerous times in the past, suffered temporary flashblindness, afterimages, a headache lasting several hours requiring pain medication, and dizziness. He said the beam was much brighter than in his past experience. The pilot had a momentary loss of night vision, and flew a wide orbit to avoid the beam. The pilot directed ground officers to the location.

However, a patrol car on the way to the suspect’s home was broadsided at an intersection by a Toyota 4Runner. The Jaws of Life were needed to rescue one of the officers. Both officers in the car were treated at a hospital for serious injuries. The officer driving was knocked unconscious, had upper body and leg injuries, and some chipped teeth. The passenger officer had a broken leg and a fracture in his back that may require surgery. (The 4Runner driver and passenger suffered minor injuries.)

The Fresno Police Department car that was broadsided on the way to arrest a man who aimed a laser pointer at an FPD helicopter. Two officers were seriously injured. Photo from YourCentralValley.com.

When officers finally reached Quenga’s home, they found he was listening to police department radio traffic. He said “he could hear everything the officers were saying and knew they were looking for him and [he] had possibly hidden the laser.” Quenga claimed the laser beam came from a house behind him. He further said he worked as a security guard and knew he could lose his job for misuse of a laser.

A man who worked as a historian at MacDill Air Force Base near Tampa, Florida, was arrested March 13 2015 for aiming a laser pointer at a Hillsborough County Sheriff’s helicopter. There had been reports of a pilot flying over Plant City, Florida who was flashed by a green laser beam. The sheriff’s helicopter was sent to investigate. The pilot reported “he’s hitting us repeatedly, and he’s not shy about it.” An infrared camera caught 57-year-old William Polson in the act:

The suspect, realizing he had been spotted, took off in his car — with the laser. However, ground officers caught Polson at the entrance to his subdivision and took him to jail, where he was charged with misusing a laser device which is a felony, and for opposing a police officer during an arrest which is a misdemeanor.

William Polson

According to the Tampa Tribune, in September 2013 Polson sent an email to the newspaper saying he had been harassed for several years by law enforcement helicopters and aircraft. He said the harassment occurred daily but “made no sense” because he is “no threat to anyone.”

A pilot on an Air Canada commercial airliner, and two New York police officers on a helicopter, sustained eye injuries from a laser beam pointed at aircraft flying into and out of LaGuardia Airport on March 9 2015. According to police, the helicopter officers were treated and released in stable condition. The Air Canada pilot was taken to a hospital in Toronto for treatment.

On the evening of March 9, the Federal Aviation Administration notified the New York Police Department aviation department that someone was pointing laser beams at aircraft landing and taking off from LaGuardia Airport. A helicopter was dispatched to try and “draw fire.” Nothing happened for about 20 minutes, until the helicopter flew a path similar to an aircraft landing approach. On the second pass, a laser was aimed at the helicopter.

Both pilots were hit. Said one, “You feel a strong tingle in your eyes. You have a burnt spot where you can’t see. It is very dangerous for any pilot to be blinded.”

Ground officers went to the apartment of Frank Egan, 36. His mother invited the officers inside, where they found a device labeled “Laser 303.” According to police, Egan admitted using the laser pointer. He said it was purchased for $50 in an Orlando shop while on vacation.

He was charged with assault on a police officer, felony assault, menacing a police officer, reckless endangerment, and criminal possession of a weapon.

UPDATED March 14 2015: Frank Egan’s roommate and brother-in-law, Elehecer Balaguer, 54, claimed that he was the one using the laser pointer. According to the New York Times, Balaguer swore an oath in New York State Supreme Court on March 13 2015 that he, not Egan, was responsible: “Frank had nothing to do with it. I was the one that did it. It was just a kid thing. It was a stupid thing to do.” Balaguer first denied aiming at aircraft, then after being asked two more times, confessed “I pointed it at the plane, yes, thinking it was a …” and his voice trailed off. He then said “But I didn’t mean to hurt anybody.” According to Egan’s lawyer, Egan never told the police he used the laser, contrary to the police statement after Egan’s arrest. From the New York Times. A related article in the New York Times published March 12 2015 was entitled “Powerful Lasers Easy to Buy, Experts Say.” The New York Post called the laser “military-grade” and said it had been purchased while on vacation in Orlando.

Elehecer Balaguer in court

UPDATED March 17 2015: Balaguer was charged on March 16 2015 in federal court with aiming a laser pointer at an aircraft. This has a maximum penalty of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine. FAA officials said they had to redirect traffic in and out of LaGuardia on March 9 to avoid going over the Bronx, where Balaguer and Egan lived. Balaguer’s attorney said the suspect “uses methadone every day and takes medication for bipolar disorder”, and that he was “harmless”: “It was stupidity, not venality.” From the Wall Street Journal.

UPDATED May 5 2015: Balauger pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court to aiming a laser pointer at an aircraft. He could face up to five years in prison. The judge said sentencing guidelines call for between 2 and 2 1/2 years. He said sentencing of Balauger would not be routine “Given his psychiatric history, given his apparent lack of any wrongful intent, I can see one set of arguments being made; on the other hand I can see a different set of arguments because of the danger presented,” said the judge. Sentencing was scheduled for September 9 2015. According to the New York Post, Balauger is a disabled ex-heroin dealer who has a history of schizophrenia and left school after ninth grade. From CBS New York, the New York Post, and the New York Times.

A 22-year-old Coconut Creek, Florida man was arrested November 26 2014 for aiming a green laser beam three times at a Broward Sheriff’s Office helicopter. Jonathan Leiva was charged with misuse of a laser lighting device, and was released on $1,000 bond.

An officer in the helicopter, deputy Christopher Marchese said the crew was searching for a suspect when the cockpit was suddenly illuminated with a “big green light”. He was illuminated directly in his right eye, and another crew member was also hit in the eye. When the beam hit again, Marchese was able to see the laser beam and follow it down to Leiva’s location. Ground officers arrested Leiva, who admitted shining his laser at the helicopter.

Jonathan Alan Leiva

From January 1 to November 14 2014, there were 317 laser/aircraft incidents in Florida. 49 of these took place in Broward County, and 18 in adjacent Palm Beach County.

A 19-year-old Woollamia man will appear in Nowra (NSW) Local Court after being charged with shining a laser pointer at a navy helicopter from HMAS Albatross on October 30 2014.

It is alleged the man targeted a Seahawk helicopter from 816 Squadron as it was returning to HMAS Albatross after a training flight about 10.30pm. The high-powered laser was pointed at the aircraft for around a minute from the car park of the man’s workplace at South Nowra.

The helicopter landed safely, with the four crew members on board treated for slight eye pain.

Police from the Shoalhaven Local Area Command interviewed the pilot and co-pilot, who provided an approximate location of the beam’s origin. Police searched the area and located the 19-year-old man.

A laser pointer was seized by police and the man was issued with a future court attendance notice and is due to appear in Nowra Local Court on November 19.

British police in late September 2014 seized 107 laser pens from a house in Eastleigh, Hampshire, near the flight path of Southampton Airport.

In the ten weeks prior to September 26 2014, there were seven incidents of lasers being pointed at aircraft; five of these led to arrests.

News reports did not directly link the misuse to the man arrested with the 107 laser pens. It also is not known if the investigation that led to the seizure was started in response to the aircraft incidents, or was separately initiated. All flights landed safely.

One of the seized pens was said to be 650 times more powerful than normal. Given that U.K. regulations prohibit laser pointers above 1 mW, the pen was likely 650 milliwatts. This is Class 4, the most hazardous laser classification, as the beam can cause eye and even skin burns.

A 28-year-old man from Mandurah, Western Australia, was arrested for aiming a green laser beam at a police helicopter. The September 26 2014 arrest came one week after another Mandurah man, Raymond Alexander Moore, was fined AUS $10,000 for an August 25 incident where Moore continually aimed a laser at a police helicopter.

In the new incident, the helicopter was conducting a search when it was hit numerous times at about 2:30 am. The unidentified man was arrested at his home in Meadow Springs, northeast of central Mandurah.

Two Texas men were indicted by a federal grand jury on September 24 2014, for aiming a green laser pointer at a Texas Department of Public Safety helicopter.

The incident occurred at about 1 am on June 1 2014. A DPS crew responded to a report of a medical helicopter having laser beams aimed at it, near Amarillo’s Tradewind Airport. As it searched, the DPS helicopter was struck by laser beams two or three times.

Suspects on the ground got into a van and drove away. The DPS aircraft followed them, directing ground officers who closed in. A laser pointer was seen in the van. They arrested Matthew George Dodgen, 35, and Christopher Anthony Cantrell, 33.

DPS referred the case to the FBI. The grand jury indicted on charges of aiming at an aircraft, which has a penalty of up to five years in prison and up to a $250,000 fine. The men were also indicted on an “aiding and abetting” charge.

Brothers Abrahim Rashid Khan, 20, and Shaun Ahmed Khan, 18, pleaded not guilty on September 8 2014 in Riverside (Ca.) County Superior Court to one misdemeanor charge each of maliciously pointing a laser at an aircraft.

The incident occurred July 14 2014, when a sheriff’s helicopter was struck “numerous times” by a laser beam. Ground officers were directed to the source of the beam, where the two brothers were arrested without incident.

A 24-year-old Tampa man using a laser pointer hit four commercial aircraft on approach to Tampa International Airport on September 7 2014. Ahmed Maher Elhelw also illuminated a Tampa police helicopter that was investigating, hitting it four times within four minutes.

Ahmed Maher Elhelw

As a result of the laser strikes on the commercial aircraft, air traffic controllers rerouted “a handful” of flights. This is one of the first times that LaserPointerSafety.com is aware of commercial aircraft in the U.S. being redirected to avoid laser attacks.

A spokesperson for the Tampa airport was quoted as saying ““It’s really not a big deal for us to reroute flights at night. We do it all the time for different reasons. The passengers probably wouldn’t even know.”

Aaron Huffman, 27, was arrested on a charge of first-degree unlawful discharge of a laser, after he allegedly aimed the laser at a Washington State Patrol plane on August 31 2014. The charge is a felony with a penalty of up to 10 years in prison.

The aircraft was on patrol at 2:35 am, at about 1700 to 2000 feet altitude, looking for impaired drivers, when it was illuminated by a laser beam. The pilot was able to use infrared imaging to see Huffman, standing outside of a mobile home. Officers on the ground said Huffman initially denied having a laser pointer, then he suggested the pilots mistook it for a flashlight. He said he was not aware the plane was a State Patrol aircraft.

Huffman lives with his grandparents. His grandfather told Q13 Fox News that Aaron was ““playing with a toy flashlight and that’s exactly what it was — it was a toy flashlight. Just one with, what do you call it, a laser beam? Well, now I can understand it since 9/11, but I’m 60 years old, I can understand it. I think ahead. He’s 20 something years old. He don’t think ahead.”

In the comments section of a News Tribute story about Huffman’s arrest, a commenter named Heather Huffman wrote “He has not done this before the laser wasn’t even $7 to buy had no warning label and he didn’t even know it would reach that far.”Click to read more...

Christian Palomino, 18, was indicted August 28 2014 by a federal grand jury for knowingly aiming a laser at an aircraft.

On June 7 2014, a California Highway Patrol helicopter was responding to an incident in Oakland when the flight officer noticed two green flashes aimed at the aircraft. Ground officers found a laser pointer in Palomino’s pocket.

The helicopter had to break off a search with the Oakland Police Department, to deal with the laser incident. In an affidavit, an FBI special agent stated that “the two officers in the CHP helicopter had to divert their attention back and forth between searching for the source of the laser and providing assistance to the OPD.”

According to the Contra Costa Times, Palomino was taking a selfie video during the incident: “In the video, Palomino yelled at the helicopter pilot, ‘Look at this laser!’ A woman can be heard in the background saying, ‘Don't do that! You know you could blind ... You('re) going to go to jail if you do that. Don't do that!’”

According to SFGate, “In a recorded telephone conversation from jail, Palomino asked his mother in Spanish if she had recorded a news segment about the incident, which he described as an ‘embarrassment,’ Koh wrote [in the affidavit]. ‘Palomino’s mother replied by stating, ‘You should be embarrassed for doing dumb a– things.’ “

Palomino is free on $10,000 bond with a condition of a 6 pm curfew. The teen was released into the custody of his mother, and will be arraigned on September 5 2014.

UPDATED December 2 2015 — Palomino was sentenced to five years probation, including six months of community confinement in a halfway house, 200 hours of community service, and not owning a laser pointer. He also will be required to educate people about the consequences of aiming laser pointers at aircraft. From the Contra Costa Times

Jordan Clarence Rogers, 24, of Kansas City, was indicted August 26 2014 for aiming a laser pointer at a Kansas City Police Department helicopter on October 8 2013. A federal grand jury handed down the indictment.

A 39-year-old Western Australian man was arrested for aiming a green laser beam numerous times at a police helicopter on August 25 2014. The man, from Mandurah (about 45 miles south of Perth), was tracked by the helicopter’s infrared camera to his home.

An unidentified man was arrested after an Air 2 police helicopter pilot reported being temporarily blinded by a laser beam at about 11:30 pm on August 24 2014, while flying over Richmond Hill, in the Toronto metropolitan area.

The pilot was able to identify the source location of the laser. He then landed and sought medical treatment.

Steven Alexander Chavez, Jr. of Garland, Texas, was indicted in late August 2014 by a federal grand jury in Dallas, for aiming a green laser beam at a Department of Public Safety helicopter. If convicted, Chavez, 23, faces up to five years in federal prison and up to a $250,000 fine.

On August 24 2013, as a DPS helicopter flew over Garland, a green laser light illuminated the cockpit. The crew identified three persons on the ground and sent officers. When confronted, the three men did not want to identify who did it, until they were told the helicopter had video of the incident and suspects. Chavez then confessed. He was arrested and the laser pointer was confiscated as evidence.

Chavez had been arrested just a few weeks earlier, on August 3 2013, on suspicion of drunken driving. (He was passed out in a car that had crashed into a pole. He told officers he had three 12-ounce beers earlier. He could not remember what city he had started driving from. When asked if his trouble remembering was because he was drunk, Chavez reportedly said “Probably.”)

He had served a four-month sentence in Lubbock, earlier in 2013, also for drunk driving.

A laser pen was aimed at a police helicopter in Larne, County Antrim, in Northern Ireland on August 16 2014. Ground officers were directed to a home where they arrested a 19-year-old male on suspicion of possession of cannabis. In addition, an investigation is continuing.

The area commander told the Larne Times that lasing aircraft is an offense under the Air Navigation Order as it is “highly irresponsible and dangerous”.

Lee Gary Greenway, a 25-year-old man from Featherstone, was arrested July 31 2014 for aiming a laser pen at a West Yorkshire police helicopter. The aircraft was searching for a high-risk missing person at the time.

Lee Gary Greenway

During his arrest, he apologized for his actions and called them “really stupid”, according to the judge at Greenway’s August 25 2014 hearing. Greenway pleaded guilty to endangering an aircraft. He was released on bail pending sentencing on September 8.

A 20-year-old woman from Bircotes, Nottinghamshire, avoided jail when sentenced August 14 2014 for aiming a laser pen a number of times at a police helicopter.

On January 28 2014, the tactical officer onboard a police helicopter saw a laser and was able to warn the pilot, who avoided the direct beam. The laser was aimed twice more towards the aircraft. The tactical officer reported the incident as it occurred on the main flight path to Robin Hood Airport Doncaster Sheffield.

Ground officers were sent to the source of the laser light, where they found Leanne Martin and a “powerful” laser pen she had purchased on eBay. During trial, she said she had been using the laser pen to excite her dog, when she heard the helicopter. Although her boyfriend warned her not to aim at the aircraft, she opened a window and pointed the laser at the helicopter. When she realized it was a police helicopter, she stopped.

Her lawyer said “Miss Martin is full of remorse. She knows it was stupid. She did not realise how powerful the laser was and had not seen the warning sticker which says to ‘avoid eye contact.’ As soon as she realised it was a police helicopter she stopped because she knew she should not do it. She cannot believe how daft she was. This was a complete one off. She has no previous convictions. When police asked her if she understood how serious it was, she said ‘I do now.’”

The judge said it was careless and reckless behavior that could have been catastrophic.

Martin was sentenced to 12 months of community order (probation/supervision) and 120 hours unpaid work, £85 in court costs, and a £60 victim surcharge.

A teenager who recently moved to southwest Florida from Cuba was arrested after he aimed a laser pointer at a commercial aircraft and a police helicopter, on August 8 2014.

Seventeen-year-old Daniel Castillo first pointed the laser at an aircraft coming into to land at Southwest Florida International Airport in South Fort Myers. A Lee County Sheriff’s Office helicopter was sent to find the source. Castillo then aimed three times at the helicopter. Ground officers were directed to his location where he was arrested.

Daniel Castillo

The youth told WZVN TV that he was playing with the laser and did not mean any harm. His uncle said that Castillo did not know it was wrong: “It’s not like it was intentional to hurt someone, he didn’t know the consequence.”

A spokesman for the Lee County Sheriff’s Office Aviation Division said that laser illuminations can be “very distracting and devastating... All of our crews have been hit with lasers at one point or another. It’s just getting worse and worse.”

Smith Hayden Brundage, 19, of Mecklenburg, North Carolina, was charged with two counts of use of a laser device towards an aircraft, after he aimed a green laser pointer at a Charlotte-Meckenburg Police Department helicopter on August 12 2014.

According to Brundage’s lawyer, the teen wanted to see if the laser light could reach the CMPD helicopter. It did; Brundage told his parents and they called police. His lawyer says the youth is a “really good kid who made a really dumb decision” and is “ready to face up to” prosecution.

Smith Hayden Brundage

The FBI joined the local police department in investigating the incident. The federal agency has not decided whether to file federal charges.

In the third Orlando-area incident in less than a month, 30-year-old Joseph Parrott was arrested on July 2 2014 for aiming a green laser pointer at an Orange County sheriff’s department helicopter.

Joseph Parrott

The helicopter crew was investigating an attempted burglary when they were hit “about four or five times” by a person in a car stopped at a traffic light. Parrott was charged with knowingly and willfully pointing a laser lighting device at the pilot of an aircraft, which is a third degree felony in Florida. Federal charges under the February 2012 law -- with a maximum penalty of five years in jail and a $250,000 fine -- may also be filed. In addition, the state attorney’s office was considering charging the driver of the car, Steven Romano, age 55.

During the arrest, Romano’s car at right, has six police vehicles behind it.

UPDATED November 18 2014 - Parrott was found guilty of aiming the beam of a laser pointer at an aircraft in the special aircraft jurisdiction of the United States. Parrott faces a maximum penalty of five years in federal prison. His sentencing hearing is scheduled for February 2, 2015. From an FBI press release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Middle District of Florida.

A 17-year-old teenager from Kissimmee Florida, south of Orlando, was arrested June 30 for aiming a laser pointer at an Osceola County sheriff’s helicopter. The pilot said he was temporarily blinded by the light.

Jasiel Medina-Quintana told deputies he was playing in his backyard and did not realize it was illegal to shine a laser at an aircraft. A neighbor interviewed by WKMG said the teen shouldn’t have been arrested: “I buy them [laser pointers] for my kids all the time.... What are they going to do? Arrest every kid who has a laser pointer?” asked Joanne King.

Jasiel Medina-Quintana

Medina-Quintana was booked into the Osceola County jail and was later released into his mother’s custody.

Three young men were arrested June 25 2014 for aiming a laser pen at a Metropolitan Police helicopter flying over east London. Two of the suspects were 19 year old, the other was 20. They were arrested on suspicion of endangering the safety of an aircraft.

Christopher Jusino Rodriguez of Ponce, Puerto Rico, was arrested for aiming green laser light from his apartment balcony at a police helicopter, impeding the vision of the crew, on June 19 2014. Jusino admitted the act to arresting officers, who retrieved a laser pointer from a trash can. He faces up to five years in prison if convicted.

A federal grand jury on June 17 2014 indicted Jeremy Wayne Sumpter, 29, on charges of aiming a laser pointer at an aircraft. He faces up to five years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000.

In February 2014, Sumpter was arrested after a police helicopter was hit by a green laser beam. He told the arresting officer that he was responsible. When the pilot arrived, wearing his flight suit, Sumpter asked him, “Were you the one in the helicopter?”

On June 7 2014, a 19-year-old man from the north Orlando area was arrested on felony charges of pointing a laser light at a pilot, and culpable negligence.

Trevor Ragno of Longwood, Fl. aimed a green laser light at a Seminole County Sheriff’s Office helicopter that was on patrol. Ground officers were directed to a home where Ragno was found and arrested. He was released on $1000 bond the next morning.

Trevor Ragno

Officials said there have been five incidents of lasers being pointed at pilots in Seminole County, all of which led to arrests. [The timespan of the five incidents -- during 2014 or all-time? -- was not indicated.]

ClickOrlando.com has an online news story from WKMG-TV which includes video from the helicopter of the laser attack, and of a person running away from a home. Below are two screens captured from the video.

From ClickOrlando.com. Thanks to Tony Zmorenski for bringing this to our attention.

A Tampa-area man was charged with misuse of a laser lighting device, possession of marijuana less than 20 grams, and possession of drug paraphernalia.

On June 5 2014, a green laser was pointed at a Tampa police helicopter. The crew radioed the laser location to ground officers, who found Bradley Alan Steffes, 29, of Brandon, FL. He told officers he was playing with the laser and pointing it at random objects. A search of his pickup truck revealed a laser pointer and the drug items.

The 18-county Tampa division of the FBI recorded 102 laser/aircraft incidents in 2013.

A Fresno, California man who illuminated a California Highway Patrol plane up to 50 times pleaded guilty on June 3 2014. He will be sentenced August 25.

David Walter Fee, 22, was charged with aiming a powerful green laser pointer at Air 43, a CHP aircraft. The pilot suffered temporary blindness and the aircraft was forced to break away from investigating a burglary in progress. Also charged along with Fee was Andrew Zarate, 20, also of Fresno. The disposition of his case is not known.

Fee faces up to five years in prison and up to $250,000 in fines when sentenced.

From the Fresno Bee and the April 10 2014 U.S. Attorney’s Office press release about the indictment of Fee and Zarate.

UPDATED August 11 2014 - Zarate pleaded guilty to aiming a laser pointer at a California Highway Patrol airplane. He was scheduled to be sentenced November 3 2014. Fee pleaded guilty to the same offense in June and was scheduled to be sentenced August 25 2014. From an August 11 2014 U.S. Attorney’s Office press release about Zarate’s guilty plea.

UPDATED September 29 2014 - Fee was sentenced to 18 months in prison, plus two years of supervised release. From KMJ Now.

UPDATED November 3 2014 - Zarate was sentenced to one year in prison, plus two years of supervised release. From Ars Technica and ABC30.

On May 17 2014, a National Police Air Service helicopter in west Lancashire was searching for a car with cloned plates when it was struck by green laser light at about 12:45 am. Officers on the ground were directed to the source of the beam and arrested an unidentified Skelmersdale man.

The laser’s light, as seen from the NPAS helicopter

The NPAS chief superintendent said “Shining a laser pen at an aircraft not only puts the pilot and the crew in danger, but it can delay the helicopter which may result in serious injury or even the loss of life. These are stupid and reckless acts. We will deal robustly with anyone who uses lasers and puts lives at risk.... Such offences hold a potential five-year custodial sentence and/or a significant fine.... Real people’s lives are at risk. This is not some kind of computer game.”

Gabriel Soza Ruedas Jr. was arrested in late May 2014, on charges of aiming a laser pointer multiple times at an Austin, Texas police helicopter, as it was trying to land at Austin-Bergstrom International Airport on February 15 2014.

Gabriel Soza Ruedas Jr.

The 25-year-old faces up to five years in federal prison, and up to a $250,000 fine if convicted.

UPDATED - July 7 2014: Ruedas entered a guilty plea in Federal court in Austin. No sentencing date has been set. Ruedas faces up to five years in prison and up to a $250,000 fine. From SFGate, KEYE TV and the Austin American-Statesman.

UPDATED - October 2 2014: Ruedas was sentenced to two years in prison, plus three years probation after his release. From KTBC and the Austin American-Statesman.

UPDATED - October 9 2014: Austin TV station FOX 7 obtained video from the AIR-1 helicopter, showing the Frbruary laser strike and the arrest. From MyFOXaustin.

Two New Mexico men were arraigned May 21 2014 on federal charges of aiming a laser pointer at an Albuquerque police helicopter on August 21 2013.

According to police, green laser light hit the cockpit window around four times, shining for several seconds each time. The crew notified ground officers who found Michael James Saavedra, 22, and Dylan James Demone, 23, in the parking lot of a Wal-Mart.

Saavedra (left) and Demone leave federal court after their May 21 2014 hearing

Saavedra told an officer that he aimed his laser at the helicopter. The police report said “Mr. Saavedra did not intend to harm anyone, nor was he aware it was illegal.”

A Palm Beach area man pleaded guilty May 21 2014 on federal charges of aiming a laser at a commercial jet. Michael Ryan Fischer could face up to five years in prison, but prosecutors said they will recommend no prison time for the 26-year-old from Wellington, Florida, in part because he has no prior criminal record.

On December 30 2012, an AirTran pilot reported that a green light was in his cockpit as he flew about 10 miles west of Palm Beach International Airport. A police helicopter sent to investigate was also affected by the light.

Fischer was located by ground officers, who reported that the man told them “he didn’t think it was serious and he was just being dumb.”

Michael R. Fischer

On April 18 2014, Fischer pleaded not guilty to a federal charge of pointing a laser at an aircraft. At that time, prosecutors said he could face a six-month sentence according to a story in the Sun Sentinel. It is not known why Fischer pleaded guilty on May 21 2014, although it may have been a plea bargain to further reduce his sentence.

Original arrest story, Jan 2 2013 from WPBF. Guilty plea story, May 21/22 2014 from the Sun Sentinel and the Palm Beach Post. Update information below from a phone conversation, July 31 2014.

UPDATE -- July 31 2014: Fischer told LaserPointerSafety.com that he was sentenced July 29 in Fort Lauderdale, to two years probation and 50 hours of community service. He said, “What kept me out of jail was not having a [prior criminal] background. “ Fischer described his guilty plea as part of an agreement that helped to reduce the sentence. He said aiming the laser, which he bought for $5 from Amazon.com, at an airplane was “the worst mistake of my life. Now I am a convicted felon.”

In addition, the FAA is considering civil charges against him, for interfering with a flight crew. The fine would be up to $11,000 per violation.

According to Fischer, up until his arrest, he was unaware that lasing aircraft was hazardous or illegal. He urged that laser labels, product packaging, and marketing materials should be required to warn users against aiming at aircraft. His warning for others was “Don’t think you’re not going to get caught, because if you do it you’re going to get caught.”

Finally, Fischer said “Please let people know I would like to apologize to the pilots, the airline, and the Palm Beach Sheriff’s office.”

(Note: Fischer expressed similar sentiments in an interview with the Sun Sentinel, posted July 31 2014.)

An intoxicated man aimed a laser at a civilian helicopter on May 5 2014, prompting the pilot to call 911 to have the man be arrested. Police said that 33-year-old Christopher Funk of Oak Island, North Carolina admitted pointing the laser at the helicopter and said he “was drunk last night and did not remember much except for shining a laser light around.”

The pilot, flight instructor Jessica Ward, was teaching a student to land at Cape Fear Regional Jetport when the incident occurred. She said the laser tracked her aircraft, twice temporarily blinding her and the student. “It refracted in the bubble and lit up like a light bulb,” she told station WECT. She said “I said you know what, this is a real threat that needs to be handled.... I just thought this seemed like a bad dream. I can’t believe this is about to happen to us at this airport in this community, and sure enough, it did.”

Christopher Funk

Funk was charged with a Class H felony for pointing a laser at an aircraft. He could receive five to six months in prison. Funk had previously been convicted for offenses including felony larceny, possession of burglary tools, damage to property, violation of probation, and driving while impaired.

UPDATED - May 11 2015: Funk pleaded guilty in federal court to the charge of aiming a laser pointer at an aircraft. He had been out on bail and will remain free until his sentencing, scheduled for on August 3 2015. Funk could receive up to five years in prison, and up to a $250,000 fine. From StarNewsonline.com

UPDATED - November 4 2015: Funk was sentenced in federal court to five years probation and 200 hours of community service. From WNCN and PortCityDaily.com.

As a result, the pilots of the Air-1 helicopter suffered flash blindness that lasted a few minutes, causing disorientation. The pilots were ultimately able to pinpoint the origin of the beams and, with the help of patrol deputies, identified Scott as a suspect.

Sentencing for Scott is set for July 21 2014. He faces a maximum penalty of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine

Two men from Tehachapi, California (about 35 miles southeast of Bakersfield) were arrested May 5 2014 for aiming a laser at an aircraft. In addition, drugs were found at the residence where the laser came from.

The evening before, a pilot was temporarily disoriented by a green laser at about 9:18 pm while landing at Tehachapi Airport. The pilot reported the laser illumination to police. A Tehachapi Police Department officer arrived and was flown around the area by the pilot. The plane was again targeted. The source, a residence, was identified. The plane landed again, and police went to get a warrant to search the residence.

A few hours later, at 3:20 am, police served the search warrant. They found the laser device along with a half pound of methamphetamine worth $20,000, cash totaling $1,400, scales and drug paraphernalia, and an 8 mm Mauser rifle and ammunition.

Arrested were Daniel Roy Mahler, 47, and Mario Guillermo Manero, 52. Both were charged with discharging a laser at an occupied aircraft. In addition, Mahler was charged with possession of controlled substance for sales, and maintaining a drug house.

UPDATED April 13 2015: In February 2015, Manero pleaded no contest. [The penalty, if any, was not stated in the news story.] He was arrested again in April 2015 for possession of child pornography, found during a firearms compliance check. A search warrant was obtained and several items were seized to try and identify potential victims. From the Bakersfield Californian.

A 57-year-old Toledo (Ohio) area man was charged with making a false statement with regard to a laser pointer incident that occurred on June 17 2012. Ronald E. Deal, Sr. told federal investigators that he did not know about the incident where a laser was aimed at an aircraft in Hancock County. He further falsely said he (Deal) pointed the laser when in fact he knew it was another person who did so.

Authorities did not have any additional details about the charge, or about who actually pointed the laser at the aircraft.

UPDATED - August 28 2014: Deal was sentenced on August 25 2014 to one month in prison followed by two years of probation, for the charge fof making a false statement or representation to a department or agency of the United States. From the Toledo Blade

A Los Angeles-area man was charged on March 6 2014 with one count of aiming a laser pointer at a Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department helicopter, a felony with a penalty of up to five years in federal prison and up to a $250,000 fine.

On November 17 2013, the helicopter was patrolling over the Boyle Heights area, which Wikipedia describes as a "working class, heavily Latino, youthful neighborhood of almost a hundred thousand residents east of Downtown Los Angeles." The aircraft was struck several times by a green laser beam that illuminated the cockpit.

The source was tracked to a home where George Sam Elali, 31, was arrested on state charges. After an investigation by the FBI and the sheriff's department, the state charges were dropped and Elali was indicted February 14 2014 by a federal grand jury. From CBS Los Angeles

A teenager aimed a green laser beam from a moving vehicle, towards a San Bernardino County Sheriff’s patrol helicopter on February 27 2014. She was arrested and could face up to five years in jail and a $250,000 fine.

Jenny Gutierrez, 19, was captured after the pilot followed Gutierrez to her home, and reported the location to sheriff’s deputies.

A 30-year-old Las Vegas area man was indicted February 18 2014 on six felony counts of aiming a laser at police helicopters.

James David Zipf had been convicted in Phoenix, Arizona in 2011 for aiming a blue laser at police helicopters. In May 2013 he moved to Henderson, Nevada, 12 miles from Las Vegas.

The indictment stated that Zipf aimed a laser at Las Vegas Metro Police helicopters six times between January 31 and February 12 2014. In one of the attacks, the pilot was so disoriented that he landed the aircraft and ended his shift.

At a detention hearing, Zipf was ordered to remain in jail. The judge said he had endangered the helicopter crews, was a threat to the community, was not truthful to federal agents, and was using drugs.

Zipf faces up to five years in prison and up to $250,000 in fines for each of the six counts.

UPDATED - September 24 2014: Zipf was sentenced to two years in prison. He also must undergo mental health and substance abuse treatment. A news reported noted that one of the flight officers in a February 3 2014 incident experienced a severe headache. From KLAS-TV

A judge has ordered Nicholas Vecchiarelli to stay away from lasers, after the Hubbard, Ohio man pleaded not guilty on February 21 2014 to obstructing official business, a charge that could result in up to eight years in prison.

Vecchiarelli, 46, was accused of aiming a green laser pointer at a news helicopter that was covering a high school football game on October 11 2013. The pilot said he saw the light several times. Police found Vecchiarelli in his driveway with a police scanner and a laser pointer. They said he confessed and gave them the laser.

News reports at the time said he was arrested on a charge of interfering with a flight crew. It is not known what happened to that charge.

UPDATED July 29 2014: Vecchiarelli pleaded guilty to one count of interfering with an aircraft, during a July 24 2014 hearing in Trumbull County Common Pleas Court. In return, a charge of obstructing official business was dropped. He will be sentenced later on the interference charge. From WFMJ.com.

UPDATED October 3 2014: Vecchiarelli was sentenced on October 2 2014 to probation for five years, has to do 200 hours of community service, must write an apology to his victims, has to pay a $1,000 fine, has an 11 pm curfew, and must stay out of liquor establishments. If he violates his probation, he could go to prison for eight years. From WFMJ.com.

A Tulsa man arrested February 15 2014 says he was pointing a laser pointer at trees and a cellphone tower when a Tulsa Police Department helicopter began hovering in front of his house and then police, Homeland Security and the FBI knocked on his door.

Carl Floyd said “I was freaking out. At first, I didn't know what was going on, then they told me what was going on and I first I denied it because I was nervous. It was 100 percent accident, not intentional, to hit an aircraft or put anybody else in danger.”

Carl Floyd

The helicopter pilot said he was hit three or four times by the green laser light, and that he doesn’t believe it was an accident.

Floyd’s case will go to a grand jury, which will decide whether to indict him on federal charges with a potential penalty of up to five years in prison and up to $250,000 in fines.

UPDATED November 13 2014 - A federal jury deadlocked in July 2014. During the trial, Floyd said he was aiming at objects such as a cell tower, a mailbox and a tree, and he did not knowingly illuminate the helicopter. Just before a second trial in November, he made a plea agreement where he pleaded guilty; saying he “knowingly aimed the beam of a laser pointer at the flight path of a helicopter that I was aware was flying nearby.” He said he had suffered severe injuries in a July 21 2014 motorcycle accident. The prosecution agreed that in light of his medical condition, a probationary sentence be imposed. Sentencing is scheduled for February 20 2015. From the Tulsa World.

An Auckland man faces up to 14 years in prison for shining a powerful laser almost 4 km towards the Eagle police helicopter.

On December 1 2013, Kristian Larsen aimed a blue laser “like a light sabre” from his home in central Auckland towards the aircraft which was taking off from the police helicopter base at Mechanics Bay. The laser beam led police to Larsen’s location, where he was arrested.

The 44-year-old man is charged with endangering transport.

Police said similar lasers are shown on YouTube videos as cutting through plastic and setting fire to objects. An investigation is ongoing.

On January 22 2014, a jury unanimously found a 28-year-old man guilty of “conduct likely to endanger life” for aiming a laser pen at a police helicopter.

The incident occurred in Blacon, an area in Chester (20 miles south of Liverpool) on August 11 2012. The helicopter was able to trace the laser beam back to a person in a garden, later identified as Richard James Brooks.

A 36-year-old man was arrested on January 21 2014 for aiming a green laser at a Phoenix police helicopter.

After the helicopter was illuminated by the laser, the crew aimed a spotlight at a man standing alone on a hill. Over the P.A. system, the crew told the man to walk down the hill. He was detained by local security guards until police arrived.

He was identified as Edward Bebec. A small, high-intensity handheld laser was found on the hill. Bebec was charged with two felony counts of endangerment.

Two teenagers, 14 and 17, were arrested for endangering the safety of an aircraft on December 21 2013, by aiming a laser pen at a police helicopter. The teens were from Wigan, a town in greater Manchester. They were released on bail until February 19 2014.

A Florida teenager did not realize the hazard, when he used a green laser pointer to track a Volusia County sheriff’s helicopter less than an hour into the new year on January 1 2014.

Police said that 18-year-old Andrew Decker hit the Air One helicopter at least four times. Ground officers arrested Decker, a college student, with the laser still in his hand.

Andrew Decker

In a statement emailed to the Daytona Beach News-Journal, Decker said he was sorry and did not realize that what he was doing was dangerous. He said a neighbor tried to warn him it was a crime but he did not hear the man due to New Year’s celebratory firecrackers going off in his neighborhood of Holly Hill, a few miles north of Daytona Beach.

Decker wrote, “I just got that new laser and wanted to see how far the light would go. I would never do anything to hurt anyone. I just want to tell the helicopter pilot how sorry I am.”

His mother, a News-Journal employee, told the paper “I think it’s pretty clear he didn’t understand the severity of the situation.”

UPDATED February 11 2014: Decker’s lawyer, David Damore, negotiated a pretrial intervention deal with prosecutors. Decker will pay a fine, do community service, and apologize in writing to the helicopter pilot. Upon completion of these actions, the charges will be dismissed. Damore said “Andrew is a good kid. This young man had no idea what he was doing and just wanted to see how far the light would go.” From the Daytona Beach News-Journal

A 51-year-old Florida man was charged with misuse of laser lighting devices, a third-degree felony, for aiming a laser at a commercial aircraft and at a police helicopter.

On December 28 2013, an aircraft landing at Southwest Florida International Airport, in South Fort Myers on the west coast of Florida, reported a laser incident. A Lee County Sheriff’s Office helicopter was sent to investigate. It was illuminated by a laser from a residence in Cape Coral, Fl.

Ground officers found Stephen Clyde Plock, 51, and two children at the residence. Plock initially denied knowledge of the laser but eventually admitted that he saw the plane and helicopter and aimed the laser into the sky.

A 17-year-old from Strood, near Kent, was arrested December 21 2013 on suspicion of endangering the safety of an aircraft. A police helicopter was looking into a burglary when it was struck by a laser beam at about 11:30 pm. The teen was located on Rochester High Street and was arrested.

A 20-year-old man was arrested December 8 2013 on a felony charge of discharging a laser at a Sacramento Police Department helicopter.

At around 10:40 that evening, the pilot said the aircraft was “getting a laser hit” from the ground. The laser’s path easily led back to the backyard of a home. Ground officers said Justin James Nesbitt told them he wanted to see if the laser could hit the aircraft.

A member of the Malta Astronomical Society admitted in court that an aircraft crossed into his laser beam while he was pointing out planets to his young nephew. David Camilleri testified on December 11 2013 that he did not turn off the beam during the June 16 2013 incident.

Taking the stand in his own defense, he told the court that the AirMalta light would have hit the side or tail, but not the cockpit, based on the aircraft’s flight path. He sad that as the son of a retired air traffic controller, he was aware of traffic and flight paths.

In addition, the laser’s range was stated in a brochure as 3 km, while the aircraft was 9 km away from Camilleri’s position.

The prosecution noted that the brochure warned against aiming at aircraft as it could disrupt the flight and was illegal. The prosecutor objected to Camilleri as he was not an expert but was expressing “mere opinion”.

The judge scheduled the next hearing for February 25 2014. An independent court expert will be appointed to provide technical terms and assistance.

UPDATED - June 4 2014: A web search for “David Camilleri laser” has not turned up any results. The most recent items are stories of his December 11 2013 court appearance. So the outcome of this case does not seem to be available online.

The police Eagle helicopter was ‘laser painted” by a blue laser, early in the morning of December 1 2013. The laser came from the central business district of Auckland. A 44-year-old man was arrested and charged with interfering with the helicopter with reckless disregard for the safety of its occupants.

UPDATE May 30 2014: Kristian Larsen was sentenced on May 30 to alcohol treatment, 100 hours of community service, and 12 months probation after being convicted of endangering transport. Police said the pilot was momentarily blinded and had a headache the day after the December 1 2013 lasing. The judge called Larsen’s actions a “drunken escapade.” Larsen said he regretted his actions: “We all make mistakes, and this was mine to make.” From the New Zealand Herald

A 23-year-old man was arrested for aiming a laser pointer at the New South Wales police helicopter Polair on November 23 2013.

The helicopter crew had been called to assist with a police operation at a party in Cabramatta, a suburb about 30 miles from Sydney, when about 11pm, the pilot reported a laser beam was being directed at the aircraft. Polair was able to direct Cabramatta police to a unit block in Lansdowne Road, Canley Vale, where they arrested the man and seized a laser pointer.

The man, from Canley Vale, was taken to Cabramatta Police Station where he was charged with use prohibited weapon and act to threaten safety of an aircraft. He was granted conditional bail to appear in Liverpool Local Court on 18 December 2013.

On October 23 2013, a Texas Department of Public Safety helicopter saw a laser beam targeting the aircraft as it flew near Odessa. Officers on the ground did not find him, so the next night, the helicopter flew over the same area at the same time. A laser was again pointed at them.

Officers on the ground found a teenage suspect who admitted pointing the laser at the helicopter. They arrested Joey Martin, 19, and charged him with illumination of aircraft by intense light.

Commentary from LaserPointerSafety.com: This is the second story in October 2013 where law enforcement flew special helicopter missions to draw out a laser perpetrator. The other case involved a complex, multi-agency supervision of a suspect in Portland, Oregon. This could be a coincidence -- such missions probably have been flown in the past. But it may also indicate that law enforcement is becoming more proactive and determined to locate and arrest perpetrators.

The FBI announced October 21 2013 that a Portland man was indicted for aiming a laser pointer at two aircraft on October 13 2013. Stephen Francis Bukucs, 39, faces two felony charges for aiming a green laser pointer at a United Airlines flight and a Jet Blue flight. According to the Oregonian, there was “no evidence that Bukucs’ actions caused any problems aboard any airliner.”

Stephen Francis Bukucs, who worked as a private security guard

An AP report said Bukucs pleaded not guilty. He told a judge that he pointed at aircraft over 25 times “for excitement, for thrills”. He would listen to the resulting law enforcement response on a police scanner.

The judge ordered a mental health evaluation for Bukucs, who has no prior criminal record.

UPDATED October 25 2013: Bukucs was identified through sophisticated surveillance coordinated by the FBI, according to a search warrant application detailing the operation. Begun in August 2013, it involved the use of video-equipped aircraft to identify the laser source, secret cameras installed to monitor Bukucs’ apartment, and physical surveillance by Special Agents. An account of the operation is here.

UPDATED March 17 2015: Bukucs was sentenced to six months in federal prison on March 16 2015, with an additional three years probation after his release. Bukucs had pleaded guilty on July 15 2014 to aiming at two commercial airliner flights. Bukucs confessed to the FBI that, over several months, he had targeted up to 25 aircraft and that he did so for entertainment and as a “cat-and-mouse” game with the police who pursued him. According to the U.S. District Attorney, the laser beam Bukucs had was a high-powered version, not the type used in an office presentation. His arrest occurred after intense air and ground surveillance by FBI agents and police officers. A task force involving the FBI, Portland police, Port of Portland police and other agencies, flew two airplanes as decoys in August 2013 to try and draw out the perpetrator. Investigators reported over 100 laser strikes from the vicinity of defendant’s apartment in 2013. Prosecutors sought a two year sentence. The judge granted leniency (six months) because Bukucs was suffering from mental illness. His girlfriend had died from a seizure, leading him to abuse prescription painkillers and to deliberately target aircraft with the laser pointer. In court, Bukucs apologized and said he was ashamed. He knew the laser could annoy pilots but denied he had malicious intent: “I was just being stupid. I look back now and I'm so embarrassed by my actions." From a March 17 2015 FBI press release (reprinted below), a July 15 2014 Oregonian news story, a March 16 2015 Oregonian news story, and an AP report in the Greenfield Reporter.

Two teenagers from Roseville, California (about 15 miles northeast of Sacramento) were arrested on October 19 2013 for aiming a laser at a California Highway Patrol airplane. Brian Levenstein, 18, and an unnamed male, 14, were charged. They may face additional felony charges.

Brian Levenstein

At about 10 pm, the Roseville Police received reports of a green laser being aimed at vehicles. As officers were responding, the CHP reported a laser pointed at them.

A man was arrested for aiming a laser at a news helicopter that was filming an October 11 2013 football game at Hubbard (Ohio) High School. The cameraman told police the laser light entered his eyes. He was able to direct police to the laser location, about 1 mile southeast of the stadium.

The FBI was notified. The unnamed man was charged on October 17 2013 with interfering with a flight crew, which is a second-degree felony.

UPDATED February 20 2014: The man, Nicholas Vecchiarelli, pleaded not guilty to obstructing official business. (News accounts did not say what happened to the charge of interfering with a flight crew.) He was ordered by a judge to stay away from lasers. From WFMJ.com.

UPDATED July 29 2014: Vecchiarelli pleaded guilty to one count of interfering with an aircraft, during a July 24 2014 hearing in Trumbull County Common Pleas Court. In return, a charge of obstructing official business was dropped. He will be sentenced later on the interference charge. From WFMJ.com.

UPDATED October 3 2014: Vecchiarelli was sentenced on October 2 2014 to probation for five years, has to do 200 hours of community service, must write an apology to his victims, has to pay a $1,000 fine, has an 11 pm curfew, and must stay out of liquor establishments. If he violates his probation, he could go to prison for eight years. From WFMJ.com.

A 46-year-old man was arrested for aiming a laser from his car, towards a Coast Guard motor lifeboat and helicopter that were conducting training exercises in Depoe Bay, Oregon on October 16 2013. The Coast Guard crew who were exposed were prevented from returning to duty until after being medically examined.

Henry Luther Cole Jr. was found parked near a seawall. He was charged with violating a restraining order, menacing, and disorderly conduct. Bail was set at $40,000. The case was referred to the Coast Guard Investigative Service, which is looking into possible federal charges.

Depoe Bay is on the Oregon coast, about 80 miles southwest of Portland. It promotes its six-acre harbor as the “world’s smallest”, according to its Wikipedia entry.

A 20-year-old woman was arrested for shining a laser at a Border Patrol helicopter in Brownsville, Texas, around October 7 2013.

Yesenia Lisabeth Diaz

Police had received an emergency call stating that someone was pointing a laser directly at an aircraft. Brownsville police went to the address and found Yesenia Lisabeth Diaz, who admitted that she aimed at the helicopter but “did not think that it would reach that far.” She was arrested and charged with a Class C misdemeanor.

Four men were arrested for aiming a laser beam from a moving car, at a police helicopter in Melbourne on October 5 2013.

A 20-year-old man from Preston was charged with interfering with conduct endangering life and possessing a prohibited weapon. An 18-year-old man from Coburg will be charged on summons with possessing a prohibited weapon. The other two men were released without charges.

A 48-year-old Malta man is accused of hitting an airplane cockpit five times with a laser beam as it was landing. The pilot reported that he looked directly at the beam which caused a dark spot in his vision, lasting about 10 minutes. The first officer described how the cockpit lit up in green from the beam.

In court in early October, David Camilleri of Rabat was described as a “semi-professional astronomer” who was aiming at stars. He said airplanes were not his target. Camilleri’s lawyer said the case was “being blown out of proportion.” He argued that if lasers were capable of bringing down aircraft, terrorists would use them to cause crashes. He also noted that footballer Lionel Messi was able to score despite having 10 lasers pointed at him during a match.

The trial is ongoing as of October 4 2013, so the outcome is not yet known.

A 28-year-old man was arrested September 28 2013 after he aimed a laser pointer at a police helicopter which was conducting a search in Evanston, SA (about 22 miles north of Adelaide). The man’s location was made known to ground officers, who found and arrested the perpetrator. He was charged with endangering safety of an aircraft and possessing a prohibited weapon.

A 25-year-old man was arrested for repeatedly shining a red laser at a San Diego Police Helicopter at about 10:30 pm on September 17 2013. The pilot was temporarily blinded and was reported to be “recovering” after the incident. He was able to inform ground officers of the suspect’s location. The suspect did admit to aiming the laser at the helicopter.

UPDATED September 19 2013: The man arrested was identified as Abel Becerril. A news story from ABC 10 includes video from the ABLE helicopter. There were two men in a parking lot, who hit the helicopter more than seven times. They then separately ran away, tossing the laser pointer during their run. Becerril will be charged with a felony. According to San Diego police, laserings of their helicopter happen “several times a week.” From ABC 10news.com (story, video and still photo shown below).

Three Air Berlin aircraft were hit by a laser beam while landing at Berlin Tegel Airport on September 8 2013. The pilots were reported to have been blinded. A helicopter located the source, a 14-year-old boy on a rooftop about 10 km (6.2 miles) from the airport. It is unclear whether the laser was also aimed at the helicopter.

The teen admitted to ground officers that he had lased the aircraft. His laser pointer was confiscated and he was handed over to his parents. He faces an investigation for “a serious intervention into the air.”

An airport spokesperson said that there were 27 laser incidents in Berlin during 2012, and 261 in all of Germany.

Police in Edmonton held a news conference to discuss the increasing risk to their flight operations. As of September 9 2013, there have been 10 such incidents. This compares with 9 incidents in all of 2012, and 4 incidents in 2011.

These are the two most recent Edmonton incidents:

On September 6 2013, the city police Air-1 helicopter was repeatedly hit by a laser in the west Edmonton area. Two teens were arrested, a 17-year-old male and a 15-year-old female; charges are pending.

On September 7 2013, multiple arrests were made after Air-1 was hit for several minutes in north Edmonton. Three males, aged 18, 19 and 20, were charged with assault with a weapon, possession of an offensive weapon, endangering the safety of an aircraft in flight, and creating a hazard to aviation safety.

During the press event, police said that users ignore warnings that come with lasers, that they often don’t realize or understand the hazard, that a ban on lasers is not the answer, and that their pilots do fly with laser protective eyewear. Details are at this LaserPointerSafety.com story.

Antonio Rodriguez, 21, was arrested on two counts of endangerment for illuminating a Phoenix Police helicopter on September 10 2013. The aircraft was patrolling when it was hit by a green laser beam. The beam was traced back to an apartment complex where ground units found Rodriguez.

He apologized and said he did not know it was illegal to point a laser at the helicopter.

On September 5 2013, a passenger onboard a Sun Country Airlines flight from Minneapolis to Seattle used two small, homemade lasers to burn several small holes in fabric near his seat. The crew did not see the holes but smelled the smoke. They feared that an electrical fire might be smoldering somewhere in the aircraft. An emergency diversion was made towards Spokane, 224 miles short of the original destination.

Fifteen minutes later, the 105 passengers and five crew members on the Boeing 737 landed in Spokane. Emergency services came on board and did not find any fire, heat or smoke but did find the burn holes.

Alex Philip Langloys Miller of Minneapolis was arrested by FBI agents and was charged with willful damage to an aircraft. He was released on $10,000 bond.

UPDATED October 22 2013: The Island Guardian published more details about the incident. The smoke was first smelled by a passenger who had previously worked as a flight attendant. She notified a crew member. In looking for the source, they saw “a small bright blue light for a moment under one of the seats.” Another passenger thought they saw a person holding a laser between his legs. The suspicious person went to the restroom and returned. The plane made an emergency diversion to Spokane. After landing, a “greeting committee of police, airline officials and the FBI” found burn holes in the seat in front of the suspicious passenger, and found two lasers in the bathroom trash. From a September 13 2013 article in the Island Guardian.

A 22-year-old was arrested in Hemet, California (in the San Jacinto Valley) for suspicion of aiming a laser at a Riverside County sheriff’s helicopter. On September 8 2013, at around 9 pm, a red laser was aimed repeatedly at the helicopter. Hemet police officers found Mariano Angel Godinez at his home where he admitted the laser illumination.

In addition to the laser charge, Godinez was also arrested for drug possession and for disobeying a court order. Bail was set at $25,000.

A search for a missing elderly person in a Perth suburb was disrupted when a police helicopter was twice hit by a laser pointer beam. At about 6:50 pm on September 6 2013, the aircraft was helping in the search when it was hit the first time. It left to do a different task, and came back about 40 minutes later. It was then hit again.

At the same time, several commercial aircraft in the same area reported being hit.

The helicopter directed ground officers to a property in Koondoola. They seized a laser pointer and charged a 36-year-old man with causing fear with laser or light to people in conveyances.

Four persons were arrested in Phoenix on September 1 2013, for aiming the red beam from a .45 caliber handgun’s laser aiming sight at a police helicopter. The vision of the pilot and observer was temporarily blocked.

Ground officers found the four in a midtown apartment complex. Two men, Peter Ospitale, 28, and Paul Word, 31, were arrested for investigation of endangerment. Two women, Mary Grace and Marci Gomez, both 28, were arrested for investigation of obstructing government operations.

A 20-year-old Virginia man who had been arrested July 27 2013 for aiming a laser at a state police aircraft, died September 2 2013 in a car crash. Matthew L. Farr was driving a 2001 Lexus SUV near his home when the vehicle crossed the median and struck a tree on the opposite side of the road. Police said Farr was the only person in the car, and no other vehicle was involved.

WTVR quoted a nearby resident as saying she heard the crash around 2:30 am, but there were no police on the scene until around 7 am. The road was closed until 2:30 pm while police investigated. The resident said there had been four fatal crashes on the road near her home in the past few years.

Matthew L. Farr

Farr had been charged with one misdemeanor count of interfering with the operation of an aircraft by aiming a green laser beam at a Virginia State Police Cessna 182 patrol aircraft. The pilot had temporary pain, according to a police spokesperson. Farr’s court date had been set for later in September 2013.

A 15-year-old boy from Sunderland (in Tyne and Wear) was arrested on August 27 2013 for aiming a laser pen at a police helicopter on Wearside. He was charged with recklessly or negligently acting in a manner to endanger an aircraft. A court date of September 19 2013 was set.

A 50-year-old man was arrested for wanton endangerment August 24 2013, after he aimed his laser gunsight at a Lexington (Ky.) Police helicopter. Steven French was working as a security guard on a construction site. He told police he was bored and pointed the laser on his gun at the helicopter to test its range.

UPDATED August 26 2013: WKYT interviewed the helicopter pilot, Sgt. Scott May. He told the station he was “shocked” when he heard the laser was attached to a loaded 9mm pistol. He said “When you combine the two elements of laser and gun, it’s quite alarming to us…. Now, the next time this happens, we’ve got to step back and say, ‘Is there a gun attached to this laser.’ “ From WKYT

UPDATED September 10 2013: French pleaded guilty on September 4 2013. He was sentenced to 12 months in jail; 30 days will be served while the remaining 11 months will be probated for two years. He is also required to complete 100 hours of community service, and to forfeit his gun and laser. Additional details are here.

Two males were arrested August 20 2013 for shining a laser pen at a police helicopter in Maidenhead, a town about 12 miles west-northwest of London Heathrow Airport. They were arrested on suspicion of endangering the safety of an aircraft; in addition, a laser pen was seized. A 17-year-old was bailed until September 10 while the other male arrested was released without charge.

A spokesperson for Thames Valley Police said this was the first incident he had heard of in “a long time” in the area.

Emilio Montenegro, 28, was arrested August 20 2013 for aiming a laser into the cockpit of a California Highway Patrol helicopter that was flying over San Miguel, in the central coast county of San Luis Obispo. Montenegro is charged with one felony count of discharging a laser at an occupied aircraft and four unrelated warrants. He has a history of court charges including possession of controlled substances.

A 34-year-old man was arrested for aiming a green laser pen at a National Air Support helicopter as it flew over Gorleston on August 21 2013. The pilot and crew were dazzled seven or eight times from the laser light. They were able to guide ground officers to the man’s home in Great Yarmouth. The unnamed individual was spotted aiming at the helicopter, and was arrested; his laser pen was also seized.

A Norfolk police spokeswoman said “He has received a caution for recklessly or negligently acting in a manner likely to endanger an aircraft or a person in an aircraft.”

For the second time in a week, a Philadelphia man has been arrested for aiming a laser at a police helicopter. Jose Feliciano, 19, is accused of illuminating the aircraft with a green laser beam at about 8:30 pm on August 15 2013. Police said "The light hit the officers in the eyes, causing pain and temporary loss of vision.”

Jose Feliciano

Feliciano was charged with two counts of aggravated assault, risking a catastrophe, and "related offenses." He could also face federal charges.

Two persons were arrested August 11 2013 after a Philadelphia police helicopter was targeted with a green laser beam. The aircraft was searching for a woman reported to be screaming; this was later determined to be a false report. The helicopter officers were hit with the green beam. They tried to elude it but it remained aimed at them, interfering with their vision and instruments.

Luis Martinez

Ground units arrested Luis Martinez, 20 and an unnamed other person. Martinez was charged with aggravated assault, possessing an instrument of crime, simple assault, and recklessly endangering another person. He also could be charged on federal counts.

A 40-year-old man from the Woodvale area of Perth was arrested August 3 2013 for the offense of using a portable device to direct a visible lasers at or near a conveyance. The Western Australia police helicopter was patrolling Woodvale at about 10 pm. It was hit several times with a laser light. About five minutes later it was hit again. A forward-looking infrared camera was used to locate the unnamed suspect.

A 25-year-old man from Nechells, an inner-city area of Birmingham, was arrested August 6 2013 after he aimed a laser pen at a West Midlands Police helicopter. The incident occurred at 11:30 pm in Edgbaston, an affluent area of Birmingham. The laser beam came from a parked car. Ground officers arrested Abdulhamid Ansi, a factory worker, on suspicion of endangering an aircraft. A court date was set for August 21 2013.

According to the Civil Aviation Authority, there have been over 220 laser incidents in the West Midlands "in the last two years", as of July 3 2013.

19-year-old Michael Sanche was arrested on five charges after illuminating a Calgary police helicopter three times on August 1 2013. Police said there is no known motive although alcohol may have been a factor.

A Calgary police officer holds up protective glasses of the type used by air crews to protect from laser pointers and other bright lights

During the incident, the pilot put on protective eyewear specifically designed for laser incidents. The tactical flight officer was said to have “extreme anxiety” and was temporarily flashblinded during the incident. Afterwards he had “spotty blindness and a minor headache.” Police said the Class 3 laser was capable of causing permanent blindness and burning skin.

20-year-old Matthew L. Farr of Chesterfield (Va.) County was arrested and charged with a misdemeanor, interfering with the operation of an aircraft. Farr is accused of aiming a green laser beam at a Virginia State Police Cessna 182 patrol aircraft about 10 miles southeast of Richmond, on July 27 2013. The pilot had temporary pain, according to a police spokesperson.

The pilot continued to fly in the area, to locate the laser, and was illuminated again. Farr was arrested by officers on the ground after a search of about 45 minutes.

Matthew L. Farr

Police said the laser was “ten times more powerful than the average store bought device.” [Assuming store laser pointers are below the FDA limit of 5 mW, that would put Farr’s laser at 50 mW. The beam from such a laser would cause visual interference at distances 3.16 times greater than a 5 mW pointer.]

WTVR spoke to Farr, who admitted shining the laser “only briefly” and said he was surprised “when the cavalry arrived” at his home.

If convicted on the misdemeanor, Farr could face up to a year in jail and up to a $2,500 fine. Federal charges could also be filed.

Nima Serghani, 19, was arrested on charges that include mischief endangering life, for aiming a laser pen at the York Regional Police Helicopter on July 21 2013. The pilot, who was helping with a weapons call, left the area to ensure the safety of the crew and aircraft. Ground officers entered a home, found a bright-light source and drug-related items. A court date was set for August 2013.

A video taken from the helicopter is at the York Region link.

From 680news.com and YorkRegion.com. Thanks also to Kevin Smith for informing us as to which York (U.K. or Canada) was involved!

On September 6 2012, Isaias Gonzalez, a 25-year-old tourist from Denver, pointed a green laser beam at a KTLA news helicopter flying over Los Angeles. A L.A. County Sheriff’s Department helicopter was sent to investigate and it too was lased.

On July 25 2013 Gonzalez pleaded guilty in federal court to intentionally aiming his laser at the two aircraft. He could receive up to five years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000 at his sentencing, scheduled for December 2013.

According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office of the Central District of California, Gonzalez is the second person prosecuted by their office for violating the Feb. 2012 federal law which made it illegal to aim at or near the path of an aircraft. (The first was Adam Gardenhire, sentenced to 30 months in federal prison in March 2013.)

A 32-year-old man was indicted by a Cleveland federal grand jury July 24 2013 for aiming a laser pointer at an emergency helicopter approaching Akron Children’s Hospital in Boardman, Ohio on June 15 2013. The man, Travis D. Krzysztofiak, had previous court records for drug and probation violations in 2005 and 2010.

UPDATED January 28 2014 -- Krzysztofiak pleaded guilty on Jan 27 2014 to one count of aiming a laser pointer at a helicopter, a felony charge. He will be sentenced on May 6 2014. From Vindy.com

UPDATED August 26 2016 — Krzysztofiak was sentenced to three years probation, nine months home monitoring, and 200 hours of community service. He also was required to submit to regular drug and alcohol testing, and to be in a detoxification program. However, on August 24 2016, Krzysztofiak was sentenced to two years in federal prison for violating his probation. The nature of the violation was not listed in court records. From WFMJ.COMClick to read more...

Michael A. Smith of Omaha was sentenced July 22 2013 to two years in federal prison to be followed by a three-year term of supervised release.. He was the first person in Nebraska indicted under the February 14 2012 federal law which made it illegal to aim a laser at an aircraft.

The sentencing came a little over one year after the July 11 2012 lasings in which Smith -- 29 at the time -- aimed a red laser pointer at a Southwest Airlines aircraft, and subsequently six or seven times at an Omaha police department helicopter that was trying to find the perpetrator. The conviction and sentence appear to be for the helicopter incident only.

In addition, Omaha.com reported that Smith had previously been fined $9,000 by the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration.

For the July 11 2012 incident, he could have received a five-year sentence and a fine of up to $250,000.

From KETV, WOWT News and Omaha.com. Thanks to Jack Dunn, Greg Makhov and John Neff for bringing this to our attention.

UPDATED June 27 2014 - A federal appeals court upheld the two-year sentence. The 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals rejected Michael Smith’s assertion that he didn’t believe the laser would reach the aircraft. The court said the February 14 2012 federal law doesn’t require prosecutors to show that he intended to hit the aircraft. From The Republic.

A 36-year-old man was arrested in Greenacre, about 15 km from Sydney, one day after a laser pointer was aimed at the New South Wales Police Force’s PolAir2 helicopter on July 20 2013. The helicopter crew contacted Barkstown Police with the location. On July 21, the police executed a search warrant at the address and arrested the unnamed man. He was charged with acting to threaten the safety of an aircraft/person. He was freed on bail and will appear in court on August 21 2013.

A 20-year-old man from Plant City, Florida was charged with a third degree felony for aiming a laser device at a St Lucie County Sheriff’s Office helicopter, around June 27 2013. The penalty is up to five years in jail and a $200,000 fine.

Brian Alan Hart

The helicopter was on routine patrol over Fort Pierce when someone in a black pickup truck pointed a green laser beam at the aircraft, twice. Ground deputies arrested front seat passenger Brian Alan Hart, who had a green laser pointer in his boot. The arresting officer told hard the light could have caused a crash. Hart apologized and said that “he didn’t understand the magnitude of what he had done.”

A Sheriff’s Office spokesperson said laser incidents “happen about once a month.”

A tourist from Asheboro, North Carolina was arrested in Kissimmee, Florida (south of Orlando and east of Walt Disney World) on June 25 2013, and was charged with pointing a laser device at a pilot.

Ryan Paul Lucas

The Osceola County Sheriff’s Department was searching for two missing boaters at around 11 pm. The pilot and observer said a green laser light blinded them three times. They were able to locate the source, a vacation rental property.

Deputies entered the house where Ryan Paul Lucas gave them the laser. The Sheriff’s Department quoted Lucas as telling the deputies that he “messed up and should not have shined the light at the helicopter.” Lucas was arrested and booked. One report said Lucas was 20 years old; another said he was 21.

The missing boaters were safety located, though it is not known whether they were found by the helicopter crew.

The suspect’s arrest location, marked “A”, is about 7-8 miles from theme parks at Walt Disney World

A 44-year-old Oshawa man was charged with assault with a weapon, mischief endangering life, common nuisance and obstructing police after a June 14 2013 incident. The Durham Regional Police Service helicopter Air-1 was hit by a laser beam several times while patrolling above Oshawa.

Unusually, the laser illumination was said to have taken place at noon, according toThe Star.

Crew on the helicopter directed ground officers to a parking lot where Richard McIntosh was arrested. His green Class IIIB laser was seized by police.

Commentary from LaserPointerSafety.com: Although The Star stated the incident took place at noon, this could be a misreading of the time on the police report. We have seen other stories where one news outlet said an incident occurred during daytime while others reported (correctly) that the time was, for example, 12:45 AM and not 12:45 PM.

Fernando Arrollado, 34, was arrested June 8 2013 for illuminating a San Diego County Sheriff’s Department helicopter five times with a green laser beam. He was jailed on five counts of discharging a laser light at an aircraft.

Arrollado’s location, on an apartment balcony in the city of La Mesa, was identified by officers using an onboard forward-looking infrared camera. They called in the La Mesa police. Arrollado admitted shining a 20 milliwatt laser at the helicopter and was arrested.

A Phoenix police department helicopter was illuminated twice in one night by a laser beam, early in the morning of May 29 2013. No arrest was made in the first incident, which occurred shortly after midnight. Two hours later, and 15 miles away by air, the helicopter was once again illuminated. An unidentified man was arrested in the second incident. A police spokesperson said there was no immediate indication of any crew injury in either incident.

The first incident occurred at the red square location, the second incident occurred two hours and 15 miles away at the green triangle location.

UPDATE May 30 2013 - An arrest was made in the second incident. Ralph Rubi, Jr., 37, of Phoenix was arrested on three charges of endangerment. Police said they found a laser device in his home, and that Rubi was a suspect in a previous incident involving a helicopter landing at Phoenix Children’s Hospital. From RTT News, AZfamily.com, and CBS 5.

A man was indicted May 10 2013 for aiming a blue laser beam at a Columbus (Ohio) police helicopter. Michael Rademacher, 27, faces one count of interfering with the operation of an aircraft with a laser, and one count of possession of criminal tools. (It was not clear if the laser was the “criminal tool.”) He faces up to nine years in prison if convicted on both counts.

The incident happened March 21 2013, when officers in the helicopter were hit by the bright blue beam. They were startled but were able to regain their composure and located the source as Rademacher’s home. Ground officers searched the home and recovered a “high-powered laser.”

Two men were arrested May 6 2013 for aiming a laser beam at a Pasadena (CA) Police Department helicopter that was responding to an apparently unrelated burglary alarm. As the aircraft was checking the area, a laser beam was shone at the helicopter. The pilot and observer, who were not injured by the light, directed ground units to the source. Officers found 30-year-old Joel Reyna and 32-year-old Aram Yashu, both of Alhambra. One of the suspects was on parole, which allowed officers to perform a warrantless search of the area. They found a laser pointer, drug paraphernalia and evidence of credit card fraud.

Charges were filed for obstructing a flying aircraft, as well as other charges. The suspects were held in lieu of $25,000 bail. No evidence of burglary was found at the site of the alarm, and the suspects are not believed to have been involved in any burglary.

30-year-old Michael A. Smith of Omaha, Nebraska was convicted April 24 2013 in federal court, for multiple instances of aiming a laser pointer at an airliner and a police helicopter. He will be in jail until his sentencing, scheduled for July 22 2013. Smith could face up to five years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000.

A police evidence technician displays the laser pointer that was confiscated. The Omaha World-Herald reported that the laser emits red light.

On July 11 2012, a Southwest Airlines pilot was lased as he came in for a landing in Omaha. Subsequently, an Omaha Police Department helicopter was also lased six or seven times, with the pilot reporting being temporarily blinded. Smith was arrested in his backyard by a Douglas County sheriff’s deputy.

UPDATED July 22 2013: Michael Smith was sentenced to two years in federal prison to be followed by a 3-year term of supervised release. He was the first person in Nebraska indicted under the February 14 2012 federal law which made it illegal to aim a laser at an aircraft. From KETV and WOWT News.

The FBI announced on April 1 2013 that two men from Alice, Texas have been charged under federal law with aiming a laser pointer at an aircraft. The men, Joshua Nathaniel Vela and Jon David Lopez, both 21, could receive up to five years in federal prison and up to $250,000 fine.

According to the indictment, on December 27 2012 each man aimed a laser pointer at the Halo Flight medical helicopter.

On March 21 2013, a federal grand jury in California indicted four individuals who were involved in three separate incidents of aiming lasers at aircraft. In all three cases, charges were filed under both the 2012 Federal law making it illegal to aim pointers at aircraft or their flight path, and also under statutes making it illegal to interfere with the safe operation of an aircraft.

One of the defendants’ lawyers said the charges were overkill. KGET reported that David Torres, attorney for Brett Lee Scott, said “The penalty in the federal system with respect to this particular crime, doesn't fit at all. And, I think that when you look historically as to why this particular crime was enacted, it was enacted because of folks like Osama bin Laden and Al Qaeda and folks that have these laser-guided missiles, things of that nature, where they didn't want folks pointing guided lasers up in the air, things of that nature. But, here you have teenagers doing this from time to time or other individuals who are unaware of what the law is.”

Indicted were:

Brett Lee Scott, 25, of Bakersfield CA. Alleged to have flashblinded sheriff’s office helicopter pilots for “minutes”, and causing disorientation. The laser strikes came over a 3-month period.

Sergio Patrick Rodriguez, aka Javier Rodrigues, 26, and his girlfriend, Jennifer Lorraine Coleman, 23, both of Clovis CA. Alleged to have deliberately targeted a medical helicopter from the Children’s Hospital Central California, as well as a police helicopter sent to investigate.

Charles Conrad Mahaffey, 22, of Clovis CA. Alleged to have aimed a red laser at a sheriff’s office helicopter, causing a law enforcement mission to be called off.

Additional details are in a press release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office, reprinted below (click the “Read More…” link).

UPDATED November 4 2013: Charles Conrad Mahaffey pleaded guilty to the federal charge. He will be sentenced on January 27 2014.

UPDATED December 20 2013: Sergio Patrick Rodriguez was found guilty of attempting to interfere with a police helicopter. He and his girlfriend Jennifer Lorraine Coleman were also found guilty of aiming a laser pointer at the police helicopter. They will be sentenced March 10 2014.

Two Texas men were arrested on March 7 2013 after allegedly aiming a green laser three times at a Department of Homeland Security helicopter flying near Donna, Texas. The beam temporarily blinded the pilot, who was wearing night vision goggles. He took evasive action to avoid the beam. He was able to identify the vehicle from which the laser was aimed, and directed ground units to its location.

Tristan, left, and Uresti

Margarito Tristan III, 23, was charged with illuminating an aircraft with a laser pointer, impairing the operator, and with possession of marijuana. Eugene Uresti, 22, was charged with resisting arrest and public intoxication. A third occupant of the car was released with no charges filed.

Tristan told arresting officers that he was trying to hit a star with the laser.

22-year-old Kenneth Santodomingo pleaded guilty on February 28 2013, to aiming a green laser pointer several times at a Dallas police helicopter that had been searching for car burglary suspects on January 28 2013. The light spread across the windscreen and obscured the pilot’s vision.

The incident was captured on video. Above is a still frame from the video, showing the maximum laser impingement on the camera. (It should be noted that this is a very brief and atypical freeze frame; for most of the video the laser is waving around but is not aimed directly into the camera lens.)

Kenneth Santodomingo

When arrested, he was clad only in his boxer shorts. Santodomingo told officers “I wanted to see how far it [the laser’s beam] would go.” Sentencing is scheduled for July 25 2013; he could receive up to five years in federal prison and a $250,000 fine.

A Long Island man was arrested in January 2013 after confessing to pointing a laser beam at two aircraft.

On August 21 2012, a Sun Country Airlines chartered Boeing 737 was illuminated by a green laser beam while at 12,000 feet over Suffolk County on its way to John F. Kennedy International Airport. A Suffolk County police helicopter was sent to investigate and also had a green beam pointed at it. The police pilot was able to trace the beam back to the home of Angel Rivas in Shirley, a community in the town of Brookhaven on Long Island’s south shore. After landing, the three persons on the police helicopter were treated at a hospital and released.

At Rivas’ home, patrol officer, Matthew Dewitt, confronted the 33-year-old, who denied aiming at the aircraft. No action was taken due to a lack of any other evidence.

On January 4 2013, Dewitt was responding to a call of an altercation at a convenience store. Rivas turned out to be one of the persons involved. When asked for ID, Rivas said he did not have any due to a suspended license, and then told Dewitt “You know me, you were at my house, I was the one who lasered the plane.” Rivas was immediately arrested, advised of his Miranda rights, and was taken into custody.Click to read more...

A 35-year-old Reedswood man was fined £615 on November 12 2012, for aiming a laser pen at a police helicopter in Walsall, on July 21 2012. The helicopter was investigating a burglary when the laser light illuminated the cockpit for several seconds. The pilot moved the craft to avoid the beam. The incident was captured on video.

Ian Collins pleaded guilty to “shining a light at an aircraft in flight so as to dazzle or distract the pilot”. He paid a £400 fine plus £200 costs and a £15 victim surcharge.

On November 2 2012, Irene Marie Levy of San Jacinto, California, was arrested for aiming a laser, first at a police cruiser and then at a sheriff’s department helicopter sent to look for the laser source. She faces a felony charge for the helicopter incident, and a misdemeanor charge of pointing a laser at law enforcement.

Levy, 32, had previously been arrested for a June 30 2012 incident where Levy aimed a laser at least two separate times at a fire truck. She pleaded guilty on October 9 2012, was referred to mental health court, and was released on two years’ probation.

A 23-year-old Orlando man was charged in late October 2012, with aiming a laser into the cockpit of a Seminole (Florida) County Sheriff's Department helicopter on July 17 2012. He faces up to five years in prison and $250,000 in fines for the federal offense.

From SFGate.com and Catholic Online

UPDATED May 3 2013: The man was acquitted January 8 2013 in U.S. District Court . He wrote to LaserPointerSafety.com in May, asking that his name be removed from the above article, due to it causing difficulty when looking for work. We have removed his name and the link URLs out of courtesy, since he was acquitted. The acquittal judgment, with his name redacted, can be viewed here.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION from LaserPointerSafety.com: On May 3 2013, I spoke with the person; for convenience, I will call him "John Doe." The following is his account, based on his perspective.

On July 17 2012 he was on the phone. As he talked, he idly swung his 5 milliwatt green laser pointer back and forth in the sky. He was not aiming at anything, it was just on and swinging.

Later, a police officer came to him saying that a sheriff's department helicopter had said they saw a laser from his location. She asked if he had a laser. Doe said yes, and showed her how he had used it. She felt it was an accident and left. He did not have to surrender the laser.

In August, two FBI agents came to see him. An agent said, "You are being investigated by the Joint Terrorism Task Force, as a threat to the United States."He was charged with a federal felony in late October 2012. When it came to trial on January 8 2013, there were police officers, plus the two FBI agent, and federal prosecutor. They showed a ten-minute video from the helicopter. Doe said you could not see the beam, just a dot that looks like any other light on the ground, which at one point got brighter.

The trial lasted about three hours. The judge dismissed the case for lack of evidence, and he was formally acquitted.Doe did say, "Definitely people should be very careful as these lasers are not toys, but It would be one thing if my intent was malicious and I had a very powerful laser. Then, calling this a felony and having a five-year penalty would be justified for a high powered laser. There needs to more public awareness on the issue.”

A 19-year-old student was arrested in his University of Louisville dorm room, for illuminating a police helicopter three times on October 21 2012. The pilot turned the helicopter away from the light, then was able to fly to the source location. Jeffry Ledington was charged with two felony counts of wanton endangerment.

The laser was described as “about 10 inches long and about as big around as a thumb.”

A laser was pointed at a sheriff’s helicopter flying over the community of 4S Ranch, in San Diego County, California on July 31 2012. Beams did not enter the windows of the helicopter. Ground officers were directed to a home where a 22-year-old man was found with a “commercial grade green laser”. The district attorney’s office has the case and may bring felony charges of aiming a laser at an aircraft.

A sheriff’s spokesperson said of the laser light beam “It’s not different, really, than if you were to shoot an officer.” He said the lasers can cause permanent eye injuries and can cause a crash.

Since January 2011, there were approximately six laser incidents in the county. No crew members were injured, according to the spokesperson.

An unnamed 19-year-old was arrested for aiming a laser multiple times at a Winnipeg Police Service helicopter on July 25 2012. The lasing happened as the AIR1 helicopter was breaking up a bonfire party in Omand Park. According to CJOB, the crew was able to shield their eyes.

The man was arrested on unspecified charges, most likely assault with a weapon and charges under the Aeronautics Act for aiming a bright light at an aircraft.

An 18-year-old man was arrested in Blackburn, Lancashire, for aiming a laser pen at a police helicopter pilot. The aircraft was returning from a mission when the incident occurred. The aircrew tracked the laser and notified ground officers, who approached a group of men traveling in a car. The unnamed teenager was arrested.

A 44-year-old man was arrested July 15 2012 for aiming a laser pointer at a Polk County (Florida) Sheriff’s Office helicopter. Gary Don Carroll told officers that “he did not understand why the stores would sell a laser pointer if the laser pointer is illegal to use.” The Highland City man was charged under Florida statute 784.062(3a), Misuse of Laser Lighting Devices, which is a third-degree felony.

UPDATED — On December 17 2014, Gary Don Carroll was arrested for leaving the scene of a fatal crash that occurred on February 22 2014. A 32-year-old man, Eric Wayne Pope of Lakeland, Florida, was killed while riding his bicycle with reflective vest and lights. Analysis of paint chips, completed December 15, pointed to Carroll’s car as being involved. Carroll was also charged with tampering with evidence, for having his truck’s hood and headlight replaced. Carroll has “an extensive criminal arrest history which includes six felony, four misdemeanor, six unknown level arrests, and two failures to appear. He has been in the Polk County jail 10 times before his current arrest.” From the Daily Ridge

A 15-year-old Ashmore boy was arrested for illuminating a police helicopter on June 29 2012. Police said the three crew members were “affected” by the beam. The incident happened in the Gold Coast area of Queensland.

Police looking for the laser source found a group of teenagers. One had a laser pointer and knife. He will be charged under the Youth Justice Act.

Michael Brandon Smith was indicted June 6 2012 on federal charges of aiming a laser at a Metro St. Louis Air Support helicopter. The 35-year-old resident of O’Fallon, Missouri could be imprisoned for up to five years and/or fined up to $250,000 if found guilty of the May 18 2012 illumination.

A 56-year-old Virginia Beach man faces up to 100 years in prison on six counts related to incidents on April 11 and June 5 2012 where Navy aircraft were lased near Naval Air Station Oceana. On June 20 2012, Robert Bruce, Jr. was indicted on the following charges:

Two counts of interference with flight crew (20 years maximum penalty for each count)

Two counts of aiming a laser pointer at an aircraft (5 years maximum penalty for each count)

Two counts of assaulting, resisting or impeding federal officers (25 years maximum penalty for each count)

The Virginian-Pilot reported that Bruce aimed lasers at the jets “more than a dozen times” since December 2011. He was annoyed by the their noise. The two counts of assaulting federal officers may be related to Bruce calling the air station to threaten to shoot at the noisy aircraft.

According to a press release, “it is believed that the Eastern District of Virginia is the second jurisdiction to indict” using the new Federal law passed February 14 2012, making it a criminal offense to aim a laser pointer at or near an aircraft.

UPDATE July 31 2012: Bruce pleaded guilty to one count of interfering with the operation of an aircraft. The other five counts were dropped in exchange for the guilty plea. Bruce will be sentenced October 19 2012. He could receive up to 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. Pilots testified that they saw lasers at least 10 times from the area of Bruce’s house between December 29 2011 and June 5 2012. One of the pilots lased by Bruce reported that direct eye exposure was painful, distracted her during landing, and gave her a headache. A spokesperson for Oceana Naval Air Station said that, of 18 laser incidents in Virginia Beach since December 2011, 12 of the incidents were due to Bruce. There were 12 incidents total in 2011. From the Virginian-Pilot.

There have been four laser incidents in six days, in Oklahoma City, as of June 13 2012. The first two incidents, on June 7, were widely publicized in the area after a boy was identified as lasing a medical helicopter and then a police helicopter sent to investigate. Then, on June 10 and 11, police helicopters were illuminated with a green laser. Derrick M. Sullivent, 20, was arrested and charged with two federal counts of aiming the beam of a laser pointer at an airplane. The penalty for each charge is up to five years in prison and up to a $250,000 fine.

Such a spate of laserings is unusual, according to an Oklahoma City Police Department spokesperson: “It’s kind of rare that we would have this many all at one time.” Some commenters to a News9.com story speculated that the media attention given to the first two incidents may have triggered the second two.

From News9.now, the Norman Transcript, and a press release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Oklahoma. For a full version of the press release, click the “Read More…” link below.

Commentary from LaserPointerSafety.com: It would be interesting for the police to question Sullivent, to find out if he was aware of, or influenced by, the media reports of the June 7 laser incidents.Click to read more...

Charges against Nikhil Vadher, 23, were dismissed on June 7 2012 after a court found insufficient evidence proving that he had aimed a laser at a police helicopter.

On August 9 2011, a three-person crew was patrolling over Crawley, West Sussex. The pilot testified that the crew was dazzled three times by “the sort of light that could only have been a laser. I have been subjected to a number of laser attacks.” Camera footage shown in court displayed only a small flash. Vadher’s attorney said that the flash could not be traced to any particular house. He said that even if the light had come from Vadher’s house, there was no evidence that any shining was intentional. Vadher said there was a light coming from his laptop, which was next to his open bedroom window.

After hearing both sides, the judge agreed there was no evidence of the crime, or that Vadher was the person who committed any crime.

Vader told the Crawley News that his life had been on hold since his arrest on a charge of directing a light at an aircraft in flight to dazzle or distract the pilot.

A boy in Oklahoma City aimed a laser pointer at a medical helicopter headed for Baptist Medical Center on June 7 2012. When a police helicopter went to investigate, it too was hit. Officers were able to locate the boy responsible. Federal authorities are investigating and may bring “serious” charges.

A Jacksonville-area man was arrested June 4 2012 for aiming a green laser four times at a Sheriff’s Office aircraft. In addition, police said there were “several” other incidents of aircraft being lased in the area; one pilot said he had been lased ten times recently.

The pilot located the house and called in ground units. While police were talking to a woman, Tyler John Pennywitt, 40, was seen running through the house. He was arrested while hiding in the shower.

Pennywitt said he had pointed a laser at aircraft “more than a dozen times” but that he did not know the laser could reach to the aircraft. While he was arrested for a Florida felony, misuse of a laser device on an aircraft, he could also face federal criminal charges.

A 25-year-old man from Bradford was arrested June 6 2012 for aiming a laser at a West Yorkshire police helicopter from his bedroom window. The crew was able to direct ground officers to the man’s home. The chair of the West Yorkshire Police Federation, which represents officers, said “we absolutely deplore this kind of activity.” Andrew Tempest-Mitchell said the lasing “beggars belief” and should be dealt with in the courts.

A 23-year-old man aimed a laser at a Pasadena (CA) police helicopter on May 24 2012 as it flew over San Gabriel. Police said “it was an intentional act [lasting] for minutes.” During the tracking, the tactical flight officer on board was reported to have received an unspecified injury. Ground units were directed to the location, where Rafael Juarez was arrested. He appeared to be on cocaine and had suspected cocaine on him. Juarez was charged with two felonies: discharging a laser at an aircraft and possession of a controlled substance. He was held on $25,000 bail and faces potential federal charges.

This was the ninth laser incident reported by the Pasadena police in 2012. A police statement indicated that the helicopter crew had protective eyewear, but was not wearing them when the laser illuminated the aircraft.

After the helicopter landed at the Pasadena Heliport, the officer was taken to Huntington Memorial Hospital for evaluation. Police said the officer was “not seriously injured” and that there was no permanent damage.

A Kansas City (Missouri) police helicopter was targeted by a green laser as it flew over the downtown area on May 20 2012. Ground units were called to an apartment where Grant P. Doverspike, 24, was issued a summons to appear in court, accused of attempted assault. Doverspike’s laser was also confiscated.

A 39-year-old Leumeah man was arrested after illuminating the Polair 3 police helicopter four times with a green laser on May 8 2012. The pilot said he was disoriented after the laser flashes, which occurred at an altitude of 450 meters (1500 feet) while over Leumeah, a suburb southwest of Sydney. The crew used thermal imaging to locate Matthew William Moore. Ground officers arrested him on his front lawn, and located a nearby laser pointer.

Moore pleaded not guilty to possessing or using a prohibited weapon without a permit, and threatening the safety of an aircraft and the person on board. The was refused bail. A court date of June 1 was set.

Lodi police released a video showing how a Lodi man was captured just four minutes after he began targeting a California Highway Patrol aircraft with a green laser pointer on April 29 2012.

Video from a CHP airborne camera shows the green beam at an instant of maximum intensity. The bright/dark line is an artifact from the camera sensor being oversaturated.

Switching to a high-resolution infrared camera moments later, the suspect can be clearly seen (white dot in center, just to the left of a house).

The CHP aircraft had been searching for the source of laser beams aimed at airplanes flying over Lodi, when they were repeatedly illuminated by a green beam. By switching between a color camera that captured the beam, and a high-resolution infrared camera that showed a suspect, ground units were able to move in on the suspect.

Charles Brill, 52, was arrested and charged with one state felony charge of willfully discharging a laser at an aircraft. Federal charges could also be filed under the new law signed Feb. 14 2012 by President Obama, according to a police spokesperson.

Brill told the arresting officer that the reason he pointed the laser at the aircraft was that "he liked watching the green color light and seeing how it sparkled.” The arrest report also said that Brill wanted "to use (the laser) as a reference point and see how far the laser beam could travel."

From KCRA.com and ABC News10.net. A News10.net news report video is here; the raw video from the CHP helicopter is here as well as at the KCRA page.

A Glendale, California police helicopter was illuminated by a red laser beam three times on April 27 2012. The beam was easily traced to two men in a home’s backyard. 18-year-old Dylan Chavez and 20-year-old Jason Phillips were arrested on suspicion of discharging a laser at an aircraft. As of April 30, they were not charged under the new federal anti-laser law signed Feb. 14 by President Obama.

A Durham Regional Police helicopter was forced to land after being repeatedly illuminated by a laser, later determined to be Class 3A (maximum power less than 5 milliwatts). The maximum power allowed to be sold as a pointer in Canada is Class 3A.

The April 21 2012 incident happened in Uxbridge, 75 km northeast of Toronto. It was looking for vandals when struck by a laser numerous times over several minutes. The helicopter set down at a nearby police station, and the pilot was taken to a hospital. He was released with no apparent damage, but a police spokesperson said it could take several days for damage to emerge.

20-year-old Melissa Perry of Uxbridge was arrested, and charged with lessening the ability of a crew member to perform duties, interfering with the duties of a crew member, projecting a bright light at an aircraft, mischief endangering life, assault with a weapon and common nuisance. It is unclear from news reports whether Perry was associated with the vandals.

Analysis from LaserPointerSafety.com: If the laser is really Class 3A (less than 5 mW maximum power), the pilot’s eyes were unharmed. The Nominal Ocular Hazard Distance for a 5 mW laser with a tight 1 milliradian beam is 52 feet. This means that laser safety experts have concluded that no eye injury could occur past 52 feet. If the pilot was airborne, his eyes were likely much farther than 52 feet from the laser. (Global Toronto reported the helicopter was at 5000 feet, but that is very high for vandal surveillance; 500 feet is more reasonable.) Plus, as explained on the Laser Safety Calculations page, there are additional factors that go into the NOHD. The result of these factors is that a 5 mW laser would have to be within 16.4 feet of a person’s eyes before there was a 50/50 chance of causing a minimally detectable eye injury. This is not opinion; this is scientific fact based on how the NOHD is derived.

UPDATE, NOVEMBER 2012: On September 21 2012, Perry pleaded guilty to one charge of violating the Aviation Act by shining a bright light at an aircraft. She was fined $500. All other charges were dropped by the Crown. From DurhamRegion.com.

Adam Gardenhire, 18, was charged on April 18 2012 with lasing a Cessna Citation jet and a Pasadena police helicopter on March 29, as previously reported on LaserPointerSafety.com. He was charged with two federal counts of aiming a “commercial grade”* green laser pointer at an aircraft, under a provision of the FAA reauthorization legislation signed by President Barack Obama in mid-February 2012. According to news reports, this is the second U.S. case where a person has been charged under the new law. The first person was Orlando resident Glenn Stephen Hansen.

Gardenhire had been arrested on state charges at his North Hollywood home about two hours after the March 29 lasing, and had been free on bail while the FBI and other authorities worked on the federal indictment. Each federal count carries a maximum prison term of 5 years, so Gardenhire faces a total of 10 years in prison. He could also be charged under a separate FAA civil suit for interference with an aircraft.

Gardenhire’s photo on Facebook, according to the blog LA Weekly.com

A post on Gardenhire’s Facebook page just before the federal charge said he was going to the Twin Towers Correctional Facility in LA: “Twin towers tomorrow... Not looking forward !!!:/ whats poppin though?=)”. A post afterwards said “There on to me o.O”. On Facebook, he stated his Activity as “graffing” (complex graffiti) and his Interests as “Bitches and hoes”.

*The term “commercial-grade” is not a standard term in the laser field. An FBI spokeswoman told LaserPointerSafety.com that the term “was not a technical description but one to differentiate between a small personal laser one might use for an office presentation, as opposed to the kind used in the attack, which might be used for the grand opening of a department store or other commercial enterprise.” It is surprising to LaserPointerSafety.com that a teenager would have such a laser, which would require wall power (110 VAC) and would be bulky and thus harder to aim at an aircraft. We are trying to get more details.

UPDATED, October 29 2012: Gardenhire pleaded guilty to deliberately aiming at multiple aircraft. Sentencing was set for January 2013. From the Burbank Leader.UPDATED March 26 2013: Gardenhire was sentenced to 30 months in federal prison. The judge said he wanted to send a message to others. More details are in a LaserPointerSafety.com story.

A green laser was shined into the cockpit of a Life Flight medical helicopter as it flew near Findlay, Ohio on March 31 2012. There was no patient on the aircraft at the time. The laser did not cause any injury to the crew. According to a spokesperson for Mercy St. Vincent Medical Center in Toledo, pilots are trained to look away from laser beams.

The incident happened about 10 pm on March 30 2012, near Pacific Avenue and Ventura Freeway. The helicopter crew was able to track the laser and inform ground officers. A group of men were running into a home when the police arrived. The 16-year-old told officers he was aiming at the moon when the helicopter appeared in the beam path. He was booked for discharging a laser at an aircraft.

The Glendale location is 7 miles east of the day-earlier North Hollywood location.

A teenager on March 29 2012 aimed a green laser first at a private jet landing at Burbank’s Bob Hope Airport, then at a Pasadena police helicopter looking for the laser source. The 18-year-old was quickly located and arrested in North Hollywood, about 1.5 miles from the airport. He admitted aiming the laser at aircraft.

The teen was arrested at a location (A) about 1.5 miles from the airport (black square).

The jet was illuminated twice while on approach to the airport. The helicopter was hit approximately six times. There were no injuries, or adverse effects on airport operations.

UPDATED April 19 2012: Adam Gardenhire, 18, was charged on April 18 2012 with two federal counts of aiming a laser at an aircraft, in violation of a new law that took effect in mid-February. The teen faces up to 10 years in prison. More details are in a LaserPointerSafety.com story.

UPDATED March 26 2013: Gardenhire was sentenced to 30 months in federal prison. The judge said he wanted to send a message to others. More details are in a LaserPointerSafety.com story.

Two Jacksonville, Fl. area teenagers were arrested March 22 for illuminating the cabin of a Coast Guard helicopter. The Dauphin MH65D aircraft was operating near the suburb of Orange Park when it was lit up several times by a green laser. The pilots were able to determine the location of the laser, and report it to the Orange Park Sheriff’s Office. They arrested 18-year-old Devon Christopher Joyner and 16-year-old Kalib Taylor Hodge. Both were charged with misuse of a laser light on an aircraft.

According to deputies, a witness had told the teens to stop lasing, because they were breaking the law. It is unknown whether this was told to them before or after they illuminated the helicopter.

An Orlando-area man was arrested for aiming laser beams at least 23 times from January to March 2012 at aircraft taking off from Orlando International Airport. [UPDATED - May 16 2012: Hanson pleaded guilty to one count; he faces up to five years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000. UPDATE 2 - August 23 2012: Hanson received a six month prison sentence, plus one year probation and had to pay $10,000 restitution.]

Glenn Stephen Hansen

Glenn Stephen Hansen, 49, told arresting FBI agents that he aimed a laser pointer as “stress relief” from “noise anxiety” due to aircraft flying overhead. He had filed over 500 complaints against the noise. He told the agents that airplanes “purposefully flew lower over his house in response to the noise complaints.” He was aware that shining the laser at aircraft was “wrong” but that he “had no idea” that the light could affect the pilots and cause a hazard.

LaserPointerSafety.com is not aware of any other person being arrested for so many laser incidents. If Hansen is responsible for 23 incidents, that represents 3.4% of all U.S. incidents, and 96% of all incidents involving Orlando International Airport, during the period in question (from January 1 through March 23).

Hansen was arrested at a home about 7 miles southwest of Orlando International Airport (black square).

The FBI investigation started after a January 8 2012 incident involving an AirTran departure that was 400 feet in the air when the pilot was flashed with a green light. He was tracked for 30-60 seconds, to an altitude of 2000 feet. The pilot took evasive actions including turning off all lights, making a sharp left turn, and asking for a change of course. The pilot told the FBI “he was concerned he could lose vision on the plane.”

The FBI focused on Hansen due to his previous noise complaints. Because of the accuracy of the laser “hits”, they believed Hansen was tracking flights on public websites. His home was placed under surveillance. At about 9 pm March 23 they observed a green beam coming from his house, shining towards an aircraft. (The pilot stated that the light illuminated the cockpit but did not go directly in his eye.) Hansen was arrested at about 4 am the next morning.

From the Orlando Sentinel and the criminal complaint/search warrant. The text of the U.S. Attorney’s office press release is below (click the “Read More…” link).

A police helicopter pilot had impaired vision from a green laser pen, forcing him to land “at the nearest possible opportunity” in a December 3 2012 incident in the Hartcliffe district of Bristol. On March 20 2012, 31-year-old Stuart Bowering pleaded guilty to negligently acting in a manner likely to endanger an aircraft. Sentencing has not yet been imposed; the maximum penalty is six months imprisonment.

Stuart Bowering

Pilot Paul Maddox told Bristol Magistrates’ Court that the light lasted about 15 seconds. An observer crew member said “the shafts of light were moving around the cockpit, restricting me from my task.” They were able to locate Bowering on the ground, where he was arrested. He told officers he had borrowed the laser pen and did not realize the beam would reach to the helicopter. According to his lawyer, Bowering was aware that lasing aircraft was illegal.

Update April 10 2012: Bowering avoided jail “by a whisker” according to the judge, who sentenced him to a 12-month community order. He must attend a Thinking and Skills course, has a 90-day curfew between 9 pm and 6:30 am, and has to repay £200 in court costs. The judge said Bowering had been using the laser to play with his dogs, when he aimed it into the air. The initial illumination of the helicopter was an accident, but then it was repeated, the judge found. The pilot told the court that he had “temporary black spots” in his vision which almost caused him to stray into Bristol Airport’s airspace, which could have caused the diversion of a commercial flight that was on approach. From the Guardian

A 49-year-old man was arrested March 17 2012 for aiming a green laser beam at a California Highway Patrol helicopter as it flew over the Sacramento area. The crew was able to direct Sheriff’s patrol units to an apartment in Carmichael, about 8 miles from downtown Sacramento, where David Sughroue was found with a laser pointer.

David Sughroue

He was arrested on a felony charge of discharging a laser at an aircraft. Bail was set at $50,000.

The West Yorkshire police helicopter “X99” was lased a number of times as it flew over Keighley. Although there may have been two persons involved, police arrested one man, 23, in the March 15 2012 incident.

A 19-year-old Kentucky man, Juan Luis Gomez, was arrested for shining a green laser pointer at a Lexington Police Department helicopter on March 9, 2012. The pilot and two officers in the helicopter were temporarily blinded. According to police, Gomez had been drinking before the incident. He was charged with wanton endangerment.

Two teenagers were charged with endangering the safety of an aircraft, after aiming a laser pen at a Police Service of Northern Ireland helicopter at 8:45 pm on March 12 2012. The aircraft was over north Belfast at the time. The two 17-year-olds will appear in Belfast Youth Court in April.

Less than three hours later, a laser was aimed at an aircraft in Glenavy, County Antrim. A male was arrested.From 2 separate BBC News reports here and here

A Phoenix man who aimed a laser at a police helicopter on March 10 2012 said he knew that the laser would blind the pilots. The helicopter crew was able to direct ground officers to the man’s location. Mario Michel, 25, was arrested on two felony counts of endangerment and a city of Phoenix misdemeanor warrant.

Three teenagers from the Hillfields area of Bristol were arrested February 14 2012 for shining laser light on a police helicopter. The charge was suspicion of endangering the helicopter occupants. One person was 18, two were 19. A court date was set for March 19.

The Chief Superintendent of Avon and Somerset Police said “Anyone who shines a laser at an aircraft performs a dangerous and reckless act. These people have no consideration for the safety of the aircraft or its crew. When a laser is directed at any aircraft it puts life at risk and in the case of the police helicopter hinder the apprehension of offenders and delay the investigation of crime. In 2010 there were 90 reported laser hits against aircraft and last year more than 100 incidents involving aircraft and vehicles. This is something we take seriously…. Those who use the pens … need to know that they face arrest and possible prosecution if they are caught.”

A 20-year-old Derry man was arrested February 11 2012 for aiming a laser pen at a police helicopter. The unnamed man was arrested for an offense under the Air Navigation Order, and also for a separate count of possession of a Class B substance, according to a police spokesperson.

Brian David Monday, 30, of St. Charles Missouri was indicted February 6 2012 for aiming a green laser at aircraft in November 2011. Monday was charged with one count of interfering with an airplane and a helicopter. The maximum penalty is 20 years in prison and fines of up to $250,000.

Monday is president and CEO of Monday Restaurants LLC, according to STLtoday.

Two New Zealanders who aimed a laser at the Eagle police helicopter in May 2011, will go to trial soon. On February 8 2012, Michael Joshua O’Hare-Knight , 20, and James John Spiers, 18, applied for a discharge without conviction, but this was denied by Auckland District Court judge Allison Sinclair. Their next court date was set for March 13 2012. Both were teenagers at the time of the laser illumination.

UPDATE, NOVEMBER 2012: The two were found guilty on November 10, 2012 according to the New Zealand Herald. It was not stated why the trial was moved from March 13 to November. Sentencing was set for February 2013.From the New Zealand Herald and MSN NZ. This is an updated story; the original LaserPointerSafety.com news item from May 2011 is here.

A 16-year-old boy was arrested by San Diego police, after two incidents of a red laser being pointed at a police helicopter. The first happened January 18 2012, in the Shelltown neighborhood. Ground officers were not able to find the source of the laser. The same crew was patrolling eight days later, and was illuminated from the same location. This time, a teenager was arrested in a backyard. He was charged with one count of discharging a laser at an aircraft.

Three commercial aircraft were illuminated by a green laser beam while on final approach to Auckland International Airport on January 26 2012. The police helicopter Eagle was sent to investigate and was also lit by a laser. Police said that all four aircrews suffered temporary flash blindness.

18-year-old Pravikash Chandra was arrested and charged with four counts of endangering transport. Each charge has a maximum penalty of 14 years in prison.

A spokesperson for the Eagle said the crew had lasers pointed at them “all the time. It happens fairly often and it’s a risk to the crew.”

UPDATE July 18 2012: Chandra pleaded guilty to all four charges of endangering transport. Sentencing was set for September 2012. A report on the laser’s characteristics, applications, place of purchase and use instructions will be prepared for the judge. From the New Zealand Herald and the Herald Sun..

A 28-year-old man pleaded guilty on January 25 2012 to a felony of “interfering with a person engaged in authorized operation of an aircraft” by aiming a green laser multiple times at a Virginia Beach police helicopter. During the 20-minute long November 1 2011 incident, one of the pilots was hit in the left eye. He saw black spots and was unable to see his instruments. Three times, the helicopter had to interrupt its mission of following a suspect, due to the laser attack. The attack continued even after the helicopter tracked the laser user and aimed its spotlight at him.

Christopher Bryan Willingham, of Virginia Beach, said at a press conference after his guilty plea that “It was reckless disregard of the safety. I was unaware of the potential hazards and actually what it looks like to pilots. It emits a lot of light.” He will be sentenced May 18. Willingham could receive 20 years in prison.

Christopher Bryan Willingham

At the press conference, the commander of nearby Naval Air Station Oceana said they are frustrated with laser incidents. There were 13 reports of lasers being used near the base in 2011, plus four reports between January 1 and 25, 2012.

Three persons were arrested around January 5-6 2012, for aiming green laser beams at helicopters using Bloemfontein Airport and the adjacent Air Force Base Bloemspruit. A 54-year-old man, his 14-year-old son, and a 22-year-old friend were charged with violating Section 133 of the Civil Aviation Act 13 of 2009. Specifically, “Section (j) (i) of the said Act states that any person who wilfully performs any act which jeopardises or may jeopardise the operation of an air carrier is guilty of an offence and liable on conviction to a fine or to imprisonment not exceeding 30 years or to both such fine and imprisonment” said a spokesperson

The three will be arraigned in court on January 9.

There had been concern over local airspace due to a January 8 political event at Free State Stadium with over 100,000 persons in attendance. The laser incident appears to be unrelated to a temporary Notice to Airmen (NOTAM) requiring general aviation and recreation pilots to file flight plans in advance.

A teenager from Wolverhampton was arrested for aiming a laser pen onto a West Midlands Police helicopter that was over Wolverhampton on January 8 2012. The 18-year-old was charged with recklessly acting in a manner likely to endanger an aircraft or person in an aircraft. He will appear in court on January 18.

A 14-year-old was arrested for shining a laser four times on a Maricopa County (Arizona) Sheriff’s Office helicopter that was rescuing lost hikers. The helicopter was hit on January 6 2012, after returning the hikers to their automobile. The crew identified the source and directed ground officers to a house in Surprise, a town located 20 miles northwest of Phoenix, where four juveniles were found with a laser pointer. Apparently they had also been aiming the laser at cars on a nearby road. After investigation, the 14-year-old was arrested on a felony charge of endangerment.

Maricopa Sheriff Joe Arpaio issued a statement that “this person could have seriously injured my employees and put more lives at risk.”

A man riding in a car aimed a green laser at a police helicopter. When ground units were sent to arrest the man, they also discovered the driver had under a gram of methamphetamine.

The January 3 2012 incident happened in Glendora, 23 miles east of Los Angeles. The police helicopter was near Citrus College when it was hit three or four times by a green laser beam aimed from a car. Ground officers stopped the car, found a laser pointer and arrested the passenger Jerrod Ferren, 31. He was charged with suspicion of using a laser light at the helicopter, and was held on $20,000 bail. During the stop, driver William Dixon, 26, was arrested on suspicion of being under the influence, and for possession of a controlled substance. Bail for Dixon was set at $10,000.

Jordan Johnston, 36, spent New Year 2012 in custody for tracking a helicopter with a green laser beam. The helicopter, shared by Gainesville (Florida) police and the local Sheriff’s office, was hit by the laser after only a few minutes in the air. The laser beam was traced back to a home where New Year’s Eve fireworks were being set off. Johnston told police he was trying to aim the laser through the fireworks smoke. However, a police spokesperson said the helicopter was “continually followed … through the flight path.”

It is about 1/2 mile from the helicopter’s location when it was hit (open red circle) to the home where Johnston was arrested (black square), in north Gainesville.

Johnston was arrested for a third-degree felony, misuse of a laser device.

A “high-powered” laser pointer was aimed at a Sydney police helicopter during a New Years Eve 2011 celebration in Bradfield Park. The helicopter was targeted four times; no injuries were reported. Ground officers were directed to a person in the crowd who was arrested.

The 27-year-old native of Taiwan was charged with threatening the safety of aircraft and the possession of a laser pointer in a public space. He was interviewed through an interpreter and had to surrender his passport. A court date of January 24 was set.

UPDATE, January 23 2012 -- Yu-Wei Chang pleaded guilty to threatening the safety of an aircraft, and to possessing a laser pointer in a public place. Chang had previously used the pointer in his job in Taiwan, as a tour guide. His solicitor said Chang did not intend any harm. He did not know it was illegal to possess lasers in New South Wales or to aim at an aircraft. Chang did it due to “New Year’s Eve exuberance.” Chang will be sentenced on February 28. The judge said she needed to get more information about similar cases in Australia, and to consider options other than imprisonment. She did say “there will be some punishment.”

Chang after the guilty plea

UPDATE 2, February 28 2012 - Chang was sentenced to three months in prison on one charge, and four months on another charge. Both prison terms were suspended on condition of paying AUS $200 and entering into a 12-month good behavior bond. Details are here.

A Pasadena (California) police helicopter was illuminated twice by laser light on December 28 2011 as it flew over Altadena. The pilot was able to locate the source. Ground officers identified a 15-year-old, who told them he was aiming at the helicopter. His laser pointer was confiscated.

No arrest was made that evening, but police will be speaking with the parents (who were not home at the time). Misdemeanor or felony charges may be filed. If a misdemeanor, the penalty could be up to a year in jail and/or a $1000 fine. If a felony, the penalty could be from 16 to 36 months in state prison and/or a $2000 fine.

The Shropshire Star reports that the West Mercia police helicopter was targeted twice by laser pens, in separate incidents early in the morning of December 17 2011.

The first one occurred as the crew was investigating a burglary in Telford. Ground units arrested a man on suspicion of endangering an aircraft. He admitted aiming the laser at the helicopter and was “cautioned”. (It is not clear whether any subsequent action will be taken against the unnamed man.) The laser pen was seized.

The second incident happened as the helicopter was assisting with a traffic stop. It is not known if anyone was arrested for lasing the aircraft during this occurrence.

A Telford Police spokeswoman was quoted as saying “Police will not tolerate this kind of behaviour. It is extremely dangerous…. Anyone found participating in such behaviour will be arrested and dealt with.”

On their Twitter feed, the air crew said that persons on the ground don’t realize how easy it is to find them: “It’s just like the bat signal. We can see exactly where they are and they get arrested.”

David Smith was arrested after first aiming a laser at an aircraft, and then aiming at the police helicopter searching for the laser source.

On December 5 2011, a small single-engine plane was preparing to land at Republic Airport in Farmingdale, Long Island, NY. The pilot reported seeing a light aimed towards him (some sources say it was red, others say it was green). FAA officials informed Suffolk County police. The Suffolk Police helicopter sent to investigate was also targeted by the laser. They easily traced the laser back to its source, Smith’s home in St. James, NY. Ground units then moved in to arrest the 21-year-old. It took about an hour from the time of the FAA call to Smith’s arrest.

David Smith, arrested for lasing aircraft

On December 9, Smith was charged with “obstructing governmental administration in the second degree”. Additional charges may be filed by the Port Authority Terrorism Task Force and perhaps the FAA and other governmental agencies.

A 29-year-old Hatfield man was arrested for aiming a green laser at a police helicopter on November 28 2011. The laser hit occurred in Iver, a town about 20 miles west of London. The unnamed man was charged with directing or shining a light at an aircraft in flight so as to dazzle or distract the pilot. A hearing is set for December 12.

The red “A” marks Hollow Hill Lane in Iver, site of the laser incident. The site is 4 miles northwest of Heathrow Airport.

On April 15 2011, a laser was pointed at a Royal Canadian Mounted Police helicopter in Vancouver, B.C. There was no injury to the pilot or passenger, according to LangleyAdvance.

On December 1 2011, Alexander William Schiller of Langley, B.C. was arrested for the crime. The 30-year-old was charged under the Aeronautics Act with endangering an aircraft by interfering with a crew member, and by creating an airspace hazard. He also faces a criminal charge of mischief. Schiller’s court appearance is scheduled for September 2012.

It is unclear what caused the delay in arresting Schiller, or the delay in bringing him to trial.

The red “A” locates East 17th Ave. and St. Catherines Street, where Schiller is alleged to have aimed a laser pointer at an RCMP helicopter.

According to a CBC report, “only a handful” of Canadians have been prosecuted. A pilot spokesperson was quoted as saying “The justice system is sort of behind the times on this.”

Jorge Garcia of Lehigh Acres, Florida (near Fort Myers) was arrested November 15 2011 for aiming a laser at a Lee County Sheriff’s Office helicopter. Two pilots had been searching for suspects in a shooting, when a green laser was pointed at them. According to a news report, the pilots “had been wearing night vision goggles, when the first pilot sustained injury from the laser and ‘blacked out’. “ The laser continued to be aimed at the aircraft for two minutes, until ground units arrived. Garcia was arrested after officers questioned three people found at a residence. Garcia told deputies he thought the lasing was a joke.

Jorge Garcia, charged with one count of pointing a laser light at a driver or pilot, causing injury.

The pilot suffered an eye injury, according to police. He was taken to a hospital, treated, and released.

Bradley Walker, 26, was arrested November 9 2011 after he aimed a green laser at a sheriff’s helicopter. The Citrus County (Florida) Sheriff’s Office deputies were on final approach to Inverness Airport when they were temporarily flashblinded. The pilot had to remove his night vision goggles and broke off the landing by banking to the left.

Bradley Raymond Walker

The laser continued to shine on the helicopter. The other deputy reported the laser location to ground units, who arrested Walker. According to the arrest report, when asked why he did it, Walker said he was “just being stupid” and apologized. He was charged with misuse of a laser lighting device.

A 30-year-old man was arrested for aiming a green laser at an airplane and a police helicopter on November 4 2011. The incident took place in St. Charles County, about 20 miles northwest of St. Louis. Police directed to the suspect’s house found him with a laser in his hand. The case was referred to the FBI.

A 16-year-old girl from Worthing was arrested October 31 2011 for endangering an aircraft with a laser. The South East Air Support Unit police helicopter was searching for a missing person when they were illuminated by a laser beam. The pilot and spotter located the source and called ground units. The teen was arrested with the laser.From the Worthing Herald

Dennis Berthiaume was charged on October 26 2011 with aiming a green laser at a U.S. Customs and Border Protection helicopter pilot on August 25 2011. The pilot was momentarily startled and distracted by the first illumination, and was disoriented by a second strike in the eyes. An agent on the helicopter was also hit in the eyes, became disoriented and saw spots; subsequently seeking medical treatment.

The agent directed ground officers to Berthiaume’s home in Madison Heights, Michigan. He later told officers that he had used the laser three times, then hid it in a bedroom dresser after seeing the helicopter spotlight on his house.

Berthiaume faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in jail.From the Detroit News

21-year-old David Checkley of Newton-le-Willows, was charged with recklessly endangering the safety of an aircraft by St Helens police. On October 22 2011, a police air support helicopter was lased at about 1200 feet. Cameras in the craft identified Checkley’s house. Ground units found a four-inch long black laser pen. Checkley will face the St Helens Magistrates’ Court in November.

UPDATE November 23 2011: Checkley pleaded guilty to “acting recklessly or negligently in a manner likely to endanger an aircraft”. He was sentenced to four months in jail, and his laser pen was destroyed by police. From the St. Helens Reporter

David Palvialok, 35, was arrested for aiming a green laser beam at a police helicopter on October 25 2011. Calgary police were responding to a disturbance when they saw the beam. They tracked the laser and arrested Palvialok. He was charged with obstructing a peace officer, mischief, endangering the safety of an aircraft in flight, and creating a hazard to aviation safety.

A Santa Ana (CA) man was arrested October 18 2011 for aiming a green laser pointer at an Orange County Sheriff’s Department helicopter. The pilot did not report any injury.

Daniel Abraham Garcia

Daniel Abraham Garcia, 24, was charged with suspicion of pointing a laser at an aircraft, a felony. Garcia told police he was “messing around” and did not know that pointing at an aircraft was illegal.

On September 29 2011, a green laser pen was pointed five times in seven minutes at a police helicopter patrolling near North Rocks, a suburb about 26 km northwest of Sydney. The air crew identified the location and ground units arrested a 20-year-old in Glenwood, about 9 km from North Rocks.

The man was charged with possession or use of a prohibited weapon without permit, and an act threatening the safety of an aircraft with a person on board. He was granted bail.

A police helicopter answering a 999 emergency call was diverted by a “high powered” green laser pointer as it flew near Coventry on September 28 2011. The helicopter was searching for intruders in a woman’s garden. A 16-year-old man and a 33-year-old man were arrested on suspicion of recklessly endangering an aircraft.

An air operations supervisor said “such acts defy belief.” He noted that police can easily locate laser offenders and ground units can arrive “very quickly.”

The Cambridge News said that in 2010, there were five incidents involving lasers being aimed at the Cambridgeshire police helicopter.From the Coventry Telegraph and the Cambridge News

Kimberly Rogers, 27, was arrested on September 23 2011 for illuminating a Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department helicopter with a green laser. She was charged with discharging a laser at an occupied aircraft and was being held in jail in lieu of $20,000 bail.

Kimberly Rogers

The incident came while the helicopter was searching for the source of a laser that illuminated a commercial airplane landing at Los Angeles International Airport. Rogers has not been accused or charged in that incident.

The sheriff’s department said there have been seven illuminations of their flight crews in the past 12 months, resulting in five arrests.

Rogers’ home in Compton (“A” on the map)is about 9.5 miles from Los Angeles International Airport

Marc Webster was lying in bed at 1:45 am on August 30 2011 when he heard a police helicopter over his home in Chard, Somerset. He picked up a laser pen from his window sill -- he usually used it to point at trees and scare birds away -- and aimed it at the helicopter. Webster later told police “he pointed the laser at the helicopter to see if it would reach, but [he] did not think it did.”

Pilot Paul Maddox was unable to continue investigating a car crime, and broke off his mission. He and two other officers were dazzled by the laser light. Webster said he aimed the laser for less than 15 seconds; the officers in the helicopter said it was around five minutes.

On September 22, Webster pleaded guilty to recklessly or negligently acting in a manner likely to endanger an aircraft or person in an aircraft. Sentencing is scheduled for October 14.

A news report said Webster, 45, was a drug user: “He said it had been a crazy day after he went out in the morning to score some heroin, but believes he was instead given ketamine, which didn’t treat him well.”

From This Is The West CountryUPDATE October 19 2011: Webster was sentenced to four months in prison suspended for two years, with a two-year supervision order. He avoided jail because he was the sole caregiver for his 16-year-old son.

The sentencing judge said “The message should go out that people tempted to target helicopters in this idiotic and dangerous way should expect a custodial sentence. It’s absurd that these completely pointless toys are used to distract and disable helicopters engaged in the task of serious public good. You’re very lucky that some serious accident didn’t happen as a result of your action. You’re not going to jail by only the thinnest skin of your teeth. I don’t see why your son – in a very difficult family situation – should have that done as a result of your stupidity.” From This Is The West Country.

Marc Webster was lying in bed at 1:45 am on August 30 2011 when he heard a police helicopter over his home in Chard, Somerset. He picked up a laser pen from his window sill -- he usually used it to point at trees and scare birds away -- and aimed it at the helicopter. Webster later told police “he pointed the laser at the helicopter to see if it would reach, but [he] did not think it did.”

Pilot Paul Maddox was unable to continue investigating a car crime, and broke off his mission. He and two other officers were dazzled by the laser light. Webster said he aimed the laser for less than 15 seconds; the officers in the helicopter said it was around five minutes.

On September 22, Webster pleaded guilty to recklessly or negligently acting in a manner likely to endanger an aircraft or person in an aircraft. Sentencing is scheduled for October 14.

A news report said Webster, 45, was a drug user: “He said it had been a crazy day after he went out in the morning to score some heroin, but believes he was instead given ketamine, which didn’t treat him well.”

A 21-year-old Cranbourne man at a Hampton Park party aimed a laser at a police helicopter on September 3 2011. The incident was captured on infrared video, and the man was captured. He was charged with interference with an aircraft, reckless conduct endangering life, and possession of a prohibited weapon. The interference charge carries a maximum two year jail sentence. His court appearance has been set for November 24 2011.

A Victoria Police spokesman said Melbourne has the highest number of incidents involving laser light, and “these incidents are occurring far too frequently….”

Christopher Marden, 20, admitted aiming a laser pointer at vehicles on an Interstate highway, then turning it on a Seminole County sheriff’s helicopter on September 4 2011. The laser attacks lasted about 5-7 minutes, according to the man’s companions. The incident occurred in DeBary, Florida, roughly halfway between Orlando and Daytona Beach. The helicopter had been assisting in a suspect search.

Christopher Marden

The Deltona man was charged with pointing a laser light at a driver/pilot, and could also be fined up to $11,000 by the Federal Aviation Administration.

A police helicopter broke off pursuit of suspects after the pilot was dazzled by a green laser pen, early in the morning on September 6 2011. The Western Counties Air Operations Unit was able to guide ground officers in Chard to the location. A 45-year-old man was arrested and charged with directing or shining a light at an aircraft so as to dazzle the pilot. The suspects involved in the original incident, a vehicle break-in, were arrested separately.

Three persons were arrested August 27 2011 after aiming lasers at a police helicopter searching for the source of an earlier laser illumination of a Flybe aircraft landing at Southampton Airport. Thermal imaging equipment was used to locate two youths, both 17, and a 20-year-old man. Three laser pens were recovered.

The three persons were arrested on suspicion of endangering an aircraft. They were held overnight. The teens were referred to the Youth Offending Team while the man received a caution.

After a rash of Orlando-area laser illuminations on commercial aircraft, a helicopter searching for suspects was illuminated six times by 17-year-old Stefano Fronte-Liporacci. The Venezuelan student was in possession of a green laser when he was arrested by ground units on August 28 2011. He was charged with knowingly aiming a laser pointer at an aircraft, a felony.

Fronte-Liporacci was arrested at a home (“A” above) near Orlando International Airport.

Beginning on August 24, pilots from Jet Blue, Southwest and Atlantic Coast Airlines had reported a total of four laser incidents. This prompted the August 28 search by the Orange County Sheriff’s Department helicopter.

UPDATE August 26 2011: Gable pleaded not guilty to the charges at his August 26 arraignment. He was freed on $250,000 bail. His next court appearance will be September 8, at a hearing to determine if there is sufficient evidence to go to trial. From the Contra Costa Times

UPDATE December 8 2011: Gable pleaded guilty to one felony count of discharging a laser at an aircraft. In return, other counts were dropped. At sentencing January 12 2012, prosecutors are expected to ask for a 10 day jail sentence plus 200 days on a work crew. See news item here.

UPDATE, January 12 2012: Gable was sentenced to 10 days in jail plus three years probation, according to TMZ.com. .

A 30-year-old Winnipeg man used a green laser pointer to illuminate a police helicopter four times on August 20 2011. By using “technology on the chopper,” the crew were able to direct officers on the ground. The man was arrested about 10 minutes after the illuminations. He was charged with assault with a weapon and projection of a directed bright light source at an aircraft.

Teenaged “hooligans” were arrested after a medical rescue helicopter was lased in the Austrian town of Steyr on August 17 2011. The aircraft was illuminated when landing at a hospital to deliver a seriously injured patient; the pilot had green laser light in his eyes. The helicopter was also illuminated again when taking off. The pilots called the police while they circled overhead to identify the beam source.

Two teens were arrested, one 17 and one 19, for endangering air safety. They face up to 10 years in prison.

ADDITIONAL INFO: This is the first aviation incident in which it is confirmed that a 1-watt blue handheld laser was used. LaserPointerSafety.com has learned that Garabedian used a Wicked Lasers Spyder III Arctic. This was the first widely sold 1-watt blue handheld laser; it received significant worldwide press attention when it was introduced in June 2010.

A 15-year-old boy was arrested for “shining a light so as to distract a pilot”. He aimed a green laser pen at a Northumbria Police helicopter as it flew over South Shields at 2:00 am local time on August 12 2011.

Three boys were arrested for aiming lasers at a police helicopter in Cardiff. The boys are 12, 13 and 14, were charged with endangering the safety of an aircraft. A police spokesperson said the incident “may be viewed as a harmless prank … [but] could have fatal consequences.”

An 18-year-old was arrested after a “strong” green laser strike on a Durham Regional Police helicopter, on July 29 2011. An officer on the aircraft (not the pilot) experienced “vision problems” and was examined at a local hospital. Robert Roughly was arrested at his home on Dunrobin Court in Oshawa, 60 miles northwest of Toronto.

Roughly’s home is within a kilometer of Oshawa Airport

The teenager faces the following charges:

Project Bright Light Source at Aircraft (Canadian Aviation Act)

Interfere with Performance of Duties of any Crew Member (Aeronautics Act)

Lessen the Ability of any Crew Member to Perform Duties (Aeronautics Act)

Assault with a Weapon Causing Bodily Harm

Mischief Endangering Life

Common Nuisance

Each charge under the Aeronautics Act has a maximum fine of $100,000 and/or five years in prison.From 680 News and Oye! Times

UPDATE August 8 2011: Investigators announced the arrests of five more teens: Dale Branton, Alana Capesky, Andrew Capesky, Curtis Lee, and Aaron Mountjoy. Each person is 18 years old. The five teens were charged with the same counts as Roughly (see list above). According to the National Post, “Witness testimony and unspecified investigations led police to allege that the six accused took turns passing the laser around and aiming it at the helicopter.” From CityTV Toronto, Canoe.ca, DurhamRegion.com and the National Post

Clark Gable III was arrested for aiming a green laser at a Los Angeles Police Department helicopter on July 28 2011. The 22*-year-old was driving through Hollywood at the time. He told police that he tried to point at the famed Hollywood sign, but missed.

According to police spokeswoman Sara Faden, the LAPD helicopter pilots observed “a green laser light shining on them and at that time they requested additional ground units to come to the scene. They observed a vehicle with two occupants and they found the laser that was shined on the airship and they were both taken into custody."Click to read more...

A Philadelphia police helicopter was lased multiple times during a routine patrol on July 27 2011. The pilot and co-pilot both complained of momentary pain and blurred vision, so police began to search for the perpetrator. They found Brian Lawhon, 23, with a green laser described as a black pen cylinder six inches long. The Hunting Park man was charged with two counts of aggravated assault, reckless endangerment, simple assault, causing or risking a catastrophe, and possessing an instrument of crime.

Moscow police are searching for the person who aimed a laser beam at an aircraft landing at Domodedovo Airport on July 25 2010. Three incidents also happened at the same airport in June, according to authorities.

In a related story, Russia Today has posted a video showing what it looks like to be in an aircraft during a laser illumination:

Frame showing point of maximum dazzle when a laser beam hits the aircraft’s cockpit window. Click to see the YouTube video.

UPDATE July 28 2011:Bloomberg quotes news agency RIA Novosti as saying a suspect was caught on July 27. The 26-year-old told police “he couldn’t even imagine that his actions could cause a plane to crash.” The news agency says the suspect was 40 kilometers from the airport on Kosygin (Kosygina) Street in western Moscow.

The map shows the suspect’s location (A) in relation to Domodedovo Airport (B)

University of Pittsburgh student James Gabriel Parisi is in trouble with the university, local police and the Federal Aviation Administration after he admitted aiming a laser towards medical helicopters.

Paresi, 20, faces university judicial board hearings with penalties that could include expulsion. He was also charged by University of Pittsburgh police with two felony counts of “causing or risking a catastrophe.” Finally, an FAA spokesperson said they will pursue civil penalties of up to $11,000 per violation.

On July 17 2011, at midnight and again at 3 am, medical evacuation helicopters reported seeing green beams coming from the University’s “Cathedral of Learning” skyscraper. Police confronted a group of students leaving the building after the second laser incident. Parisi, 20, spoke privately to an officer and said that he was the one who had been using a laser pointer.

Parisi was also found to have a fake Virginia driver’s license. He was additionally charged by the police with carrying a false identification card.

The 42-story Cathedral of Learning is the tallest educational building in the Western hemisphere. Photo by Flickr user bombnomnom (Anthony Velázquez) under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0 license.

UPDATED February 28 2012: Parisi is awaiting trial on two state felony counts of “risking a catastrophe”. He could be fined up to $15,000 and receive up to seven years in prison on each charge. In addition, he faces $11,000 in fines from the FAA on each count. His attorney was quoted as saying “My client is a good kid. He just made a mistake. He obviously regrets anything that happened that night.” From the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review.

20-year-old Alama Nicholson Jeffs was charged with two counts of endangerment for aiming a green laser beam at a police helicopter in Tucson, on July 13 2011. The light disoriented the crew, but no injuries were reported.

Jeffs is also suspected of aiming a day earlier towards aircraft landing at Tucson International Airport; charges have not yet been brought.

The night before the arrest, commercial aircraft approaching Tucson International Airport reported lasers coming from the area of Ryan Field. The suspect’s home (A) is about 4 miles from Ryan Field, and is 11 miles from TIA.

The helicopter illumination, and subsequent tracking of Jeffs by night vision camera, was captured on video released by the Pima County Sheriff’s Department:

A pilot’s videotaped research helped the FBI find a laser pointer in a door-to-door search, in the Chicago suburb of Brookfield. The pointer’s owner, Jason G. Heeringa was arrested in 2010. On July 12 2011 the 29-year-old pleaded guilty in a plea bargain arrangement to misdemeanor counts of aggravated assault and battery.

Two years probation, $250 fine and 240 hours of community service

Essential to the conviction was a video analysis done by a pilot who had been illuminated multiple times by Heeringa.

A San Diego teenager admitted to police arresting him that he pointed a laser at a police helicopter on July 11 2011. Jose Gallardo Rincon, 18, gave officers his laser pointer. He was charged with discharging a laser at an occupied aircraft. This felony carries a penalty of up to three years in jail.

Rincon was held on $25,000 bail. His lawyer argued, unsuccessfully, that Rincon did not present a danger to the community since he has no previous criminal record.

UPDATE, July 27 2011: Rincon’s trial was set for September 15, according to NBC San Diego.

UPDATE 2, September 15 2011: Rincon pleaded guilty to the felony charge of discharging a laser at an occupied aircraft. He will be sentenced on September 13 2012. If Rincon does not commit any new crimes during the one-year timespan, the charge will likely be reduced to a misdemeanor. That would reduce his maximum possible sentence from three years in prison (for a felony) to one year in county jail (for a misdemeanor). From Sign On San Diego.

An unnamed 20-year-old man was arrested July 12 2011 for aiming a laser pointer at a Los Angeles police helicopter. The green beam illuminated the pilot’s eyes.

A police spokesman said there had been reports of green laser beams pointed at LAPD and news helicopters in the Glassell Park area, in the previous two weeks. There was no immediate indication whether the arrested man was responsible.

Four people were arrested after pilots in a Louisville Metro Police helicopter were temporarily blinded by green laser light while in flight on July 7 2011. One report said the light came from a car driving on Interstate 64. Another report, from WHAS11, said the pilot was forced to land due to the laser attack.

The four suspects, all in their 20’s, fled across the state border, pursued by police. Joy McElwain, Steven Springer and Brian C. Enlow were arrested in Jeffersonville, Indiana. They have been charged with first-degree wanton endangerment and fleeing police. Jason A. Hill was arrested separately; charges in the laser incident will be brought against him shortly.

In addition to the state charges, authorities are considering also bringing federal charges.

24-year-old Conrad Rzewuski was charged with two counts of felony endangerment for aiming a green laser at a Phoenix, AZ police helicopter on July 6 2011. There was no immediate report of direct pilot illumination.

In June, Phoenix’s police chief said incidents will be dealt with severely: “We’ll charge them with endangerment, aggravated assault, and interfering with a flight crew.”

A jury has found a Tallaght man not guilty of endangerment in a September 12 2009 incident where a garda (police) helicopter pilot was dazzled with a laser pen. During the incident, the helicopter pilot took his hands off the controls in order to block out the green laser beams, which tracked the helicopter. In addition, a fellow crew member said she suffered pain in her eyes and temporary vision loss.

When arrested, Anthony Gaffney, 25, told gardai that he did not realize the laser hazard: “I wasn’t trying to dazzle the pilot. I definitely didn’t mean to cause any hassle. I apologise for wasting police time”.

He was charged with “intentionally or recklessly engaging in conduct creating a substantial risk of death or serious injury to another”. During the two-day trial, Dublin Circuit Criminal Court Judge Patricia Ryan instructed the jury that the State’s case was not that Gaffney acted intentionally, but that he acted recklessly. She then read the legal definition: “conscious disregard of a substantial and unjustifiable risk.”

The jury deliberated for an hour and a half before returning a not guilty verdict.

Two Los Angeles men were arrested on multiple charges for lasing a Los Angeles Police Department helicopter on July 4 2011. Floyd Atkins, 22, and Alvaro Jimenez, 20, are also being investigated for a string of incidents over the past six months, where lasers were aimed at law enforcement helicopters and at airliners landing at Los Angeles International Airport.

“A” marks the arrest location, about 9 miles from Los Angeles International Airport

LaserPointerSafety.com initially reported this as a “sting” operation, based on an NBC LA report that “the LAPD ran a high-flying sting to pinpoint the location of their two attackers.” However, other news sources indicated that there was no pre-planned effort to draw out laser users. DailyBreeze.com quoted a police spokesman as saying that “a police helicopter on regular patrol was hit with a green laser, and the crew was able to pinpoint the general location of the beam.... A second flight crew that was replacing the first unit brought protective glasses with them based on the earlier reports. The second crew was soon hit with the same green laser, and reported to police on the ground the exact location of the laser.”

The LAPD is contacting the FBI. Additional state and federal charges may be filed.

UPDATE July 28 2011: NoIR informs us that the glasses used were their “GlareShield” models. These were developed with input from LAPD pilots. More on laser protective eyewear for pilots is here.

UPDATE July 26 2012: Floyd Atkins was found guilty of one felony count of pointing laser beams at a helicopter. He will be sentenced August 3 and faces up to three years in prison. Alvaro Jimenez pleaded no contest to the same charge earlier in 2012. From MyNews3.

UPDATE November 1 2012: Floyd Atkins was sentenced on Nov. 1 to one year in county jail and two years probation. He also had to pay $200 in fines and fees. According to the deputy district attorney, Atkins “still doesn’t accept responsibility.” Alvarado Jimenez was sentenced in September 2012 to 60 days of Caltrans service and three years probation. From the Long Beach Press-Telegram.

In five June incidents, pilots were temporarily blinded in the city of Rostov-on-Don. Incidents occurred on approach to the Rostov-on-Don airport on June 3, June 7 and twice within an hour on June 23. In addition, the pilot of a police helicopter was blinded in mid-June. German news agency DPA reported that “insurgents in the Caucasus region were responsible” for these laser attacks.Click to read more...

Eric Sandoval, 19, was charged with pointing a laser at a Fontana police helicopter on June 18 2011. According to an officer who was in the helicopter, lasers have been aimed at the chopper “numerous times in the past” from the general area where Sandoval was arrested.

Fontana is near San Bernardino, and is about 50 miles east of Los Angeles.

Three men in their twenties were arrested June 18 2011, after a Chicago Police helicopter flying over the city’s North Side was illuminated by a laser beam. The aircrew directed police on the ground to a rooftop. One man threw a green laser pointer to the ground; it was later recovered.

Arrested were Alvin Kang, 25; Jeremy A. Smith, 24; and Mark P. Lawrence, 25. Each man was charged with unlawful use of a weapon and aiming a laser pointer at an officer.From UPI, Chicago Sun-Times and Examiner.com

At around 9 pm on June 7 2011, Eric J. Bouda purchased a green laser pointer for $30 from an Ocean City, New Jersey boardwalk store. He then pointed it at various targets -- including a Coast Guard helicopter two miles offshore that was on a training exercise with a tow boat. The boat crew notified local police, who found the 21-year-old still aiming the laser into the air. Bouda was arrested and charged with violating a state law prohibiting interference with transportation vehicles.

A spokesperson said that under Coast Guard rules, an illuminated aircraft must abort the mission. Crew members are taken off flight duty for at least one day, and must be examined by a doctor before flying again. “This temporary loss of crew has the potential to significantly affect the unit’s abilities to conduct search and rescue, training and homeland security missions.”

Due to previous incidents in Ocean City, the police and a local merchants association had asked members voluntarily to not sell laser pointers. But the president of the association noted that full compliance would not be possible unless there was an official ban or regulation.

UPDATE, June 21 2011: Bouda pleaded guilty in municipal court for interference with transportation. He was fined $1000 and must perform 15 days of community service. If he successfully completes the community service, the fine could be reduced to $500. In addition, he faces civil penalties from the FAA. (It is unclear from the news story whether or not FAA has actually begin proceedings against Bouda.) From Shore News Today.

Related LaserPointerSafety.com news stories about Ocean City and New Jersey laser troubles

October 17 2013: Governor Chris Christie vetoes bill to ban laser pointer sales, saying the 1 mW power limit was “arbitrary” and there was no criminal use of lasers between 1 mW and the federal limit of 5 mW in New Jersey.

On June 7 2011, a Sacramento police helicopter was struck four times “each lasting several seconds”, forcing it to break off a search for a stolen car. The crew used an infrared camera to locate the person aiming at them. 43-year-old Don Watson was arrested in his backyard with a green laser. He was booked on suspicion of discharging a laser at an aircraft.

Don Watson

Watson’s stepfather told Fox40 that Watson bought the laser the day before and was told “Don’t point it at anything in the sky.” The stepfather said of Watson, “He’s an alcoholic … he has no sense whatsoever when he’s drunk.”

A pilot on the helicopter said that a laser will “give you sudden headaches and temporary blindness. It’s very dangerous.”

A Northumbria Police helicopter in the Newcastle area was lased two times within four days. The most recent was June 6 2011, when 23-year-old Richard Anthony Oliver aimed a laser pen at the aircraft as it was flying over South Shields. Oliver was charged with directing a light at an aircraft to distract a pilot. [UPDATE July 26 2011: Oliver was given a 6 month sentence for the laser offence. Details are here.]

Earlier, on June 2, two 14-year-old boys lased the aircraft, which had been searching for criminal suspects near West Denton. The on-board observer said “... a green light filled the cockpit. For a few seconds I couldn’t see anything, all I could see was a green light. My sight was obliterated and I was dazzled.”

The pilot was forced to break off their search in order to find the laser perpetrators. They landed at a nearby airfield. The two teens were arrested and may charged with recklessly acting in a manner to endanger an aircraft.

A federal judge refused to sentence an Orlando man who pleaded guilty on January 20 2011 to interfering with the operation of an aircraft. U.S. District Judge G. Kendall Sharp said that Frank Newton Anderson was “an idiot, not a criminal” when he aimed a laser pointer at a sheriff’s helicopter on April 13 2010.

Sharp withdrew from the case because prosecutors would not reduce the charge to a misdemeanor. The judge felt that this was a more appropriate charge and would deter any future actions. Sharp also pointed out that a felony conviction would mean that Anderson could never work in his field. (He previously owned a security company which closed when he lost his license.) The case was reassigned to a new judge.From NewsChief.com (The Anderson news starts on page 2 of the 3-page article.)

LaserPointerSafety.com news and updates on the Frank Newton Anderson case:

January 21 2011 update on a possible 10-year sentence for firing a gun at an Orlando sheriff’s helicopter vs. a possible 20-year sentence for Anderson aiming a laser at an Orlando sheriff’s helicopter is here.

June 4 2011 update on judge withdrawing from Anderson’s case because prosecutors would not drop felony charge is here. (Judge: Anderson is “an idiot, not a criminal”)

September 16 2011 update here quoting the Orlando Sentinel as stating that Anderson was sentenced in July 2011 to one year’s probation and a $4000 fine.

On June 2 2011, a Southwest Airlines pilot landing at Dallas’s Love Field reported a laser being aimed at the jet. Air traffic controllers warned other pilots. An FBI agent already airborne responded and began searching for the source. The man on the ground aimed his laser pointer at the FBI pilot, who then identified the location and notified ground units.

A 45-year-old Garland man, Sammy Ladymon, was arrested and charged with “illumination of aircraft with intense light”, a Texas state misdemeanor with a maximum penalty of 1 year.

Sammy Ladymon

Ladymon’s house (A) is about 14 miles in a straight line from Love Field (B)

The arrest came one day after the Federal Aviation Administration announced it would impose a civil penalty of up to $11,000 on persons lasing an aircraft. There was no immediate word as to whether Ladymon would face the FAA fine or other federal charges as well.

For the second time in less than a week a Glendale, California police helicopter was illuminated by laser light. In a May 27 incident, the aircrew was able to locate the South Glendale building where the beam came from. When they were illuminated again, they were able to pinpoint an apartment in the building.

31-year-old Erick Alberto Medina was arrested. He told officers that he did not point at the helicopter but instead had been using a telescope equipped with a laser pointer for sighting.

A police spokesperson said “It’s not a game. It’s not a joke. It’s an assault.”

Earlier, on May 22, a Glendale police helicopter was illuminated and officers made an arrest, as reported here.

UPDATE, July 8 2011: Medina was arraigned in court. A news report did not list the exact charge against him, but did say that “he faces a possible three-year prison term if convicted.” From the Los Angeles Daily News

UPDATE 2, July 12 2011: Medina pleaded not guilty to one felony count of discharging a laser at an occupied aircraft. The court date was set for July 20. From the Glendale News-Press

A Glendale police helicopter was illuminated four times as it came in to land at Bob Hope Airport in Burbank, California. The crew tried to avoid the light as they searched for the perpetrator by using their thermal-imaging camera.

Rafael Torosyan, 30, was spotted in a park. Police followed him to an apartment building, where he was found hiding in a doorway. A laser pointer was found in his pocket and Torosyan was arrested on suspicion of discharging a laser at an aircraft.

An unnamed 17-year-old aimed a laser pen at a police helicopter for 30 minutes. He was arrested and charged with shining a light at an aircraft so as to dazzle or distract the pilot.

The incident happened May 18 2011 in the skies over the West Midlands area near Birmingham; the boy is from Warley (Birmingham Mail) or Sandwell (BBC). According to police, the pilot “used his skills to position the aircraft away from the beams during the ground attack.”From the Birmingham Mail and the BBC

A Fort Myers (Florida) man described by neighbors as “not the brightest guy” was arrested May 11 2011 for illuminating a Lee County Sheriff’s Office helicopter “several times” with a laser beam.

According to one news account, “the pilots’ night vision goggles went white and temporarily blinded them .... the deputies suffered irritation to their eyes.” According to another story, a deputy was hit in the eye with the laser beam. (It is not clear from the various news sources whether one or both deputies were wearing night vision goggles, and whether these were removed at some point during the event.)

Ground units were called to the location. A neighbor who saw the helicopter illuminating a house, and who saw multiple sheriff’s office cars speeding towards the house, looked outside and saw a green light: “I seen the laser flying around and we didn’t know what it was.” Officers found 29-year-old Michael Wayne Smith outside the house, “pointing an LED flashlight throughout the yard.” He was arrested and later charged with Public Order Crimes -- Pointing a Laser Light at a Pilot.

19-year-old Joshua O’Hare-Knight and 17-year-old James Spiers were arrested on charges of endangering transport, after repeatedly shining a laser pointer at a police helicopter on May 7 2011. The two face up to 14 years in prison.

A police spokesperson did not want to comment about the incident because “he did not want to draw attention to it and risk copycat crimes.”

From September 2010 through April 2011, lasers have been pointed at Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department helicopters six times. In this period, the LACSD has made arrests for four police helicopter illuminations:

A 16-year-old boy from Los Alamitos, for an incident in late April 2011, in the Pico Rivera sheriff’s station area.

A 15-year-old boy from Pico Rivera, for an incident in December 2010, also in the Pico Rivera sheriff’s station area.

A 25-year-old man from Maywood, for an incident in December 2010.

A 25-year-old man from La Puente, for an incident in September 2010.

A helicopter pilot said that lasers have “caused long term damage to some pilots”. Officials also noted that incidents have forced pilots to land or to break off their operations in order to take evasive action.

Sacramento police have put Jacob George Risch, 19, on their local “Most Wanted” list for failing to complete conditions of his probation for lasing a California Highway Patrol airplane.

Risch and a second youth were apprehended June 20, 2010 after aiming a green laser beam at the aircraft six times. The second youth was released; Risch was arrested on suspicion of discharging a laser at an aircraft and possession of small amount of marijuana. Risch was 18 at the time of his arrest.

He pleaded no contest on September 13 2010 to a felony count of discharging a laser at an aircraft. He was sentenced to 60 days on the sheriff's work project and five years probation. On November 30, his probation was revoked for failure to complete the terms of his sentence. He was put on the Sacramento Police Department “Most Wanted” list on January 17 2011.

UPDATE September 2 2011: Apparently, Risch has not yet been apprehended. LaserPointerSafety.com has not been able to find any indication of his removal from the Most Wanted list, or news items of any capture or arrest.

A 27-year old Sydney-area man was arrested April 19 2011. He was charged with using a prohibited weapon and committing an act to threaten the safety of an aircraft. (In NSW, laser pointers above a certain power are classed as “prohibited weapons” and may not be possessed or used without a permit.)

The arrest occurred one day after a commercial aircraft taking off from Sydney Airport reported being illuminated by laser light. Police had reports of green laser use in Bardwell Park, west of the airport, and tracked the use to the 27-year-old. His laser pointer was seized and tested, and found to be in the “prohibited weapon” category.

UPDATE, MAY 10 2011: Two men were arrested, 27-year-old Sergio Mitso Nagaoka and 21-year-old Lucas Fagundes Olhiara. They are Portuguese-speaking Brazilian citizens. Nagaoka was charged with using a prohibited weapon, and threatening the safety of an aircraft. Olhiara was charged with possessing a prohibited weapon without a permit. (Note: Some news reports transposed the 21-year-old’s name, writing it as “Lucas Olhiara Fagundes”. LaserPointerSafety.com does not know which version is correct.)Update from the St. George and Sutherland Shire Leader

A 13-year-old was charged with reckless endangerment and “laser pointer misuse” after a Maryland State Police helicopter was tracked on April 17 2011, in eastern Baltimore County. Both pilots were temporarily blinded by the green beam. They were able to recover their night vision and train their spotlight on a home that the boy ran into. Ground units recovered a laser pointer from the home.

A police spokesperson called the event a “dangerous and irresponsible act... I urge parents whose children have laser pointers to remind them that engaging in this dangerous activity could lead to criminal charges.”From the Essex-Middle River Patch and Southern Maryland Online

A Phoenix, Arizona man was arrested April 8 2011 after illuminating a police helicopter with a green laser pointer. The pilot’s vision was obstructed for “two to three seconds” but no other adverse effect was reported.

The man, 26-year-old Corey Blake Hubley, was playing with his cousin’s laser pointer by aiming it into the sky. When he realized he had pointed it at a helicopter, he turned off the pointer, according to Hubley’s account. His cousin then told him that pointing at aircraft was illegal. When police arrived, Hubley admitted he had aimed at the helicopter.

A 43-year-old man was arrested March 30 2011 after a pilot was “blinded strongly” while landing at the Münster Osnabrück International Airport (“A” below) in South Saxony. A woman in Georgsmarienhütte (“B” below, about 30 km from the airport) reported the man had been using a laser pointer in a residential area. Police found the man with a 15 cm (6 in) laser.

A number of similar illuminations from Georgsmarienhütte had been previously reported. Police said they would investigate whether the man arrested was responsible for the other illuminations as well. The man would be charged with “dangerous interference with the aircraft”, which carries a sentence of six months to 10 years.

The grandson of a prominent New Zealander was arrested after shining a green laser onto a police helicopter on March 25 2011. 17-year-old Joseph Mark James Corban was charged with reckless disregard for the safety of a police helicopter, which can be punished with up to 14 years in prison. The teenager’s grandfather is the late Joe Corban, MBE, a key figure in developing New Zealand winemaking.

A Civil Aviation Authority spokesperson said “people didn’t realize what a hazard lasers can be to aircraft.”

Two adults have been arrested after a laser was aimed at a commercial plane near Midway Airport in Chicago. A police helicopter sent to investigate was also illuminated. The incident happened at about 8:30 pm local time on Thursday, March 17 2011.

The arrest site is about 5 miles east of Midway Airport:

From the Chicago Tribune. Thanks to Joanna Skubish for bringing this to our attention.

UPDATE, MARCH 19 2011: The aircraft was a Southwest Airlines flight from San Francisco, with 137 passengers and a crew of five, that was landing at Midway. Police arrested Shania Smith, 21, and Elvin Slater, 23. Smith had just met Slater for the first time earlier that day. Smith said “I don’t know how it got in my car”, and that the first time she saw it was during the arrest, according to the Chicago Tribune. Slater’s uncle said He's a good kid. He just didn't know what he was doing.” Both Smith and Slater were charged with “discharging a laser pointer at a police officer and discharging a laser at an aircraft”, which are misdemeanors.

Google Street View of the intersection where the arrest took place,looking west towards Midway Airport

A man who just bought a laser pointer for 99 cents on eBay, and who wanted to see how far it could go, was arrested for pointing it at a Winnipeg police helicopter on March 9 2011. Global News reported that he hit the female pilot “directly in the eyes” with the green beam.

Sheldon Friesen, 26, faces provincial charges of assault with a weapon, and possible federal charges with a maximum penalty of a CDN $100,000 fine and/or five years in prison.

When asked why he aimed at an aircraft, Friesen said “Just to see the distance. You point it up into the sky and see the beam go forever. I don’t know how far forever is, so I see something in the sky that’s worth reflecting, well why not? .... It was supposed to be for simple entertainment rather than having to cause someone danger like that.”

It took only about five minutes from the time he first aimed at the helicopter, to his arrest by three ground-based units.

Just before his arrest, Sheldon Friesen demonstrates to police officers his laser pointer (green glow at bottom center).

UPDATE, May 1 2012: Friesen pleaded guilty to directing a bright light source at an aircraft. He was sentenced to 15 hours community service. The judge agreed that he did not realize the danger: “You do seem like you were genuinely surprised by the consequences of your actions.” From the Winnipeg Sun.

Police announced that on Feb. 5, they arrested a Long Beach (California) woman for illuminating two helicopters on Jan. 29 2011, causing one to break off an aerial search for suspects who had shot at detectives. Officers on the ground located 34-year-old Kelly Ann Smith. They took her laser pointer and released her so they could continue searching for the shooting suspects. One week later, she was arrested, spent the night in jail, and was released the next day on $20,000 bail. She faces two felony counts of discharging a laser at an aircraft.

According to the Los Angeles Times, “Police said they hoped the arrest would send a message that this type of offense would be punished harshly.”

A 14-year-old boy was arrested Feb. 8 2011 for “shining a laser light into the eyes of a pilot” landing at Los Angeles International Airport. The illumination occurred when the plane was about 2,000 feet above the ground. The pilot was not injured, according to an FAA spokesman.

A police helicopter was sent to investigate. NBC Los Angeles reported that the boy also aimed at the police helicopter. He was arrested in his backyard, while holding the laser. According to the Daily Mail, the boy thought that “the light would not go up to the height of the aircraft.”

The map below shows the area of the arrest (“A” on the map) in relation to the airport which is about 8 miles to the southwest.

NBCLA’s news helicopter, which was covering the arrest, was targeted by a second laser for about three seconds. (It is unclear whether this beam actually hit the helicopter. The photo below shows the view from NBCLA’s helicopter.) The second beam came from an area about one block away. Police searched the area but so far, no arrest has been made.

From CNN, NBCLA, and the Daily Mail. Note: The Huffington Post, citing CNN, reported that the 14-year-old was a girl, but other press reports said the suspect was a boy.

A Shasta Lake, California man has been charged with two felony and two misdemeanor counts, after a Dec. 6 2010 incident where a California Highway Patrol helicopter was illuminated multiple times with a green laser beam. Kevin Wayne Foster, 39, faces 4 years, 8 months in prison if convicted.

A 39-year-old Calgary man was charged after a Jan. 5 2011 incident where a radio station traffic airplane, and a television helicopter, were illuminated by a green laser. Chris Sean Saulnier faces “one count of endangering the safety or security of an aircraft in flight..., two counts of projecting a light source into navigable airspace in such a manner to create a hazard to aviation safety, and two counts of mischief to property.”

Saulnier said he bought the $100 laser for his work as a contractor and as an amateur astronomer. He cooperated with police and was “remorseful and took full responsibility for his actions” according to a police spokesman.

Two teenagers were arrested for shining green laser light at a Collier County (Florida) sheriff’s office helicopter at about 1 am on New Year’s Day. After landing, the two pilots “realized they both had ruptured blood vessels in their left eyes” and went to a hospital for treatment.

19-year old Hidalgo Moreno and 17-year-old Nicholas Ramos were arrested in North Naples and were charged with “pointing a laser light at a vehicle or aircraft operator causing injury” a Florida felony with up to a five-year prison sentence, according to the Naples Daily News. The teens told deputies “they didn’t realize it was not legal to point a laser at the helicopter and they were just playing with it.”Click to read more...

A 35-year-old man who illuminated a State Police helicopter was charged by Maryland with reckless endangerment, attempted second-degree assault on a law enforcement officer, and prohibited use of a laser pointer. Federal charges may also be filed.

David H. Hopwood of Sykesville, MD “repeatedly targeted” the helicopter. Ground police were notified; the helicopter then located the source. Hopgood was arrested by a trooper without incident.

"Shining lasers at aircraft can have dangerous and even deadly consequences," Maryland State Police said in a news release. "A direct laser strike in the cockpit can cause temporary blindness and disorientation for the flight crew."

From MSNBC via WBAL-TVThanks to Howard Donovan for bringing this to our attention.

A 58-year-old deliberately targeted a Polk County Sheriff’s Office helicopter on Sunday Nov. 21 because he was “tired of hearing it”. The aircraft had been searching for a suicidal suspect. They were forced to break off the search due to the “intense light that disoriented the pilot and a flight observer. It also interfered with night-vision equipment.” The pilot had to leave the area to readjust cockpit equipment, forcing additional units to be allocated to find the suicidal subject.

Mark Clay Hazlitt was arrested and charged under Florida law with Misuse of Laser Lighting Device, a third-degree felony with a maximum penalty of five years in prison.

Sheriff Grady Judd said “Mr. Hazlitt deliberately interfered with a search in which deputies were trying to locate a man who said he was going to take his life. The laser used was strong enough to disrupt night vision devices thus creating a very real danger to our air unit crew. He deliberately placed the lives of our pilot and flight observer in jeopardy, as well as those on the ground had the helicopter crashed. Hazlitt's behavior was reckless and his actions felonious. We will not tolerate anyone placing the lives of our deputies or residents in danger."

The suicidal subject was later located and was placed in protective custody.

From the Orlando Sentinel via Sun-Sentinel.comThanks to Tony Zmorenski for bringing this to our attention.

UPDATE #1, MARCH 18 2011: In January 2011, a grand jury indicted Hazlitt on a more serious U.S. federal charge of interfering with the operation of an aircraft. The penalty can be up to 20 years in prison. On March 18 2011, Hazlitt pleaded guilty to this federal charge. Sentencing was scheduled for later. Update from The Ledger

UPDATE #2, JUNE 2 2011: Hazlitt was sentenced to five years probation on the federal charge. The judge said the laser pointer was not a “dangerous weapon”. Hazlitt said the incident was “very bad judgment,” and has started a website, laserawareness.us, to publicize the dangers of pointer misuse. Update #2 from The Ledger.

SACRAMENTO, CA—United States Attorney Benjamin B. Wagner announced today that a federal grand jury returned a one-count indictment charging Samuel Gregory Liebman, 51, of Roseville California, with interference with an aircraft for pointing a laser at a California Highway Patrol plane.

The indictment alleges that on August 30, 2010, Liebman struck a CHP Cessna 206 multiple times with a powerful green laser while it was flying .

This case is the product of a joint investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the California Highway Patrol, and Federal Air Marshals with the Joint Terrorism Task Force. Assistant United States Attorney Jean M. Hobler is prosecuting the case.

If convicted, Liebman faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison, a $250,000 fine, or both. The actual sentence, however, will be determined at the discretion of the court after consideration of any applicable statutory factors and the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, which take into account a number of variables.

A 31-year-old man from Warwick, Rhode Island was arrested after admitting that he pointed a green laser at a boat, a car and a Continental Airlines plane. Joseph J. Aquino told investigators “Stupid me. I pointed it in the sky to see if it would hit an airplane.”

The incidents happened on September 15 2010. Rhode Island State Police charged him with disorderly conduct, while he faced federal charges of “interfering with an aircraft with reckless disregard for safety.”

At a press conference held September 23, the U.S. attorney for Rhode Island said, “It comes down to personal responsibility. This is about conduct. It applies to [laser] pointers, a motor vehicle, pitchfork or anything else.”From the Warwick Beacon and Providence Journal

UPDATE: On January 21 2011, Aquino pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in Providence. Sentencing was scheduled for April 21, according to the Boston Globe. A Department of Justice press release said that Aquino “faces a maximum sentence of twenty years imprisonment; 3 years supervised release; and $250,000 fine.”

UPDATE #2: On September 12 2011, Aquino was sentenced to six months of home confinement plus five years probation. The judge also ordered him to continue undergoing mental health counseling, be drug tested 72 times each year, and perform 500 hours of community service. The prosecution had recommended two years in jail. The judge gave a more lenient sentence after hearing about Aquino’s good behavior in the year since the laser attack occurred. The judge did note: "What you did was not only incredibly dangerous, but also incredibly stupid. It’s time to grow up. Time to think about the consequences of what you're doing.'' From the Providence Journal

34-year-old Jason John McConnell of Calgary was arrested Aug. 16 for hitting a police helicopter multiple times with a “high-powered laser”. He faces criminal charges of obstructing a peace officer and mischief endangering life. He is also faces federal charges of projecting a bright light source at an aircraft, and lessening an aircraft crew’s ability to perform its duties.

The Calgary Police Service’s Helicopter Air Watch for Community Safety (HAWC), was on patrol when hit by a green beam at 10:45 pm. The crew then put on protective glasses and began a 30-minute search during which they were hit two more times. During the incident, one runway was closed by the Calgary Airport Authority, as a safety precaution.

Police tracked the beam to McConnell’s home about 10 km (6 mi) away, arrested him and seized what they describe as a “high-powered laser”. McConnell claimed it was an accident: “I was playing with it inside the house and it hit a mirror. It’s not like I was inside pointing it at them. It’s pure coincidence.”

After the incident, the helicopter crew was grounded pending the results of eye tests to determine whether their vision was damaged.

UPDATE May 31 2011: The Calgary Sun has a short article about initial judicial proceedings against McConnell. The trial phase should begin shortly. From the Calgary Sun.

UPDATE 2 June 19 2012: On June 18 2012, McConnell pleaded guilty to a criminal charge of mischief causing damage to property, and to projecting a bright light at an aircraft to cause a hazard under the Aeronautics Act. He received a six month conditional sentence followed by six months of probation. The first two months of the conditional term will be under house arrest; the remaining four months he will have a curfew from 10 pm to 5 am. He also must complete 25 hours of community service and undergo counseling. Finally, he will not be allowed to possess laser pointers. Both McConnell’s lawyer and the crown prosecutor agreed that the sentencing conditions were an adequate punishment. According to his lawyer, McConnell did not realize the seriousness of aiming a laser at an aircraft. He said the incident was due to “basically stupid curiosity.” From the Calgary Sun and Calgary Herald.

A 35-year-old man was arrested for aiming a laser at a police helicopter in Durban, at a World Cup event. Yusuf Ebrahim was arrested June 26 2010. A pilot had complained a few days earlier of light from a beachfront fan park affecting his vision. When it happened again on June 26, Ebrahim was identified and arrested.

The case was first brought before a special World Cup court. However, the prosecutor decided it was not a World Cup case and referred it to the Durban Magistrate’s Court. Ebrahim was charged with “performing an act which jeopardizes or may jeopardize the safety of an aircraft.” A court appearance is scheduled for July.

Update, January 11 2012: An Internet search has not turned up any news stories about the outcome of Ebrahim’s case. A story in The New Age indicates that there have only been two South African laser incidents that resulted in arrests -- the Ebrahim case, and a January 2012 arrest of three persons.

42-year-old Frank Newton Anderson was arrested on Tuesday, April 13 for pointing a laser at an Orange County (FL) sheriff’s helicopter. Anderson faces felony charges and as of April 14 remains in jail on no bond.

Frank Newton Anderson

The pilot, Kevin Poston, was patrolling over Orlando when he saw a lighting-like flash. “Almost initially I thought maybe we had hit something”, he was quoted as saying. Spotter Patrick Deans, in the back of the helicopter, said “it was like a green flash right in front of my face, startling.” He saw a vehicle on the ground, in a parking lot. Then the vehicle started to flee, giving Anderson away. He stopped in another parking lot to hide. When ground units directed by the helicopter confronted him, Anderson said the laser (found 100 feet from his vehicle) was not his. However, the laser’s packaging was found in his vehicle.

Anderson appears to be the owner of a Winter Park, Florida security company, Viking Protective Group. When arrested, he was wearing a shirt with “Security” printed on it, and in his vehicle were handcuffs, a mask, camouflage paint, knives, and a Glock gun. He was also ticketed for having an expired license tag.

WFTV reporter Kathi Belich, in reporting the story, said “I hate to use a bad pun, but on so many levels he’s not too bright.”

January 21 2011 update on a possible 10-year sentence for firing a gun at an Orlando sheriff’s helicopter vs. a possible 20-year sentence for Anderson aiming a laser at an Orlando sheriff’s helicopter is here.

June 4 2011 update on judge withdrawing from Anderson’s case because prosecutors would not drop felony charge is here. (Judge: Anderson is “an idiot, not a criminal”)

September 16 2011 update here quoting the Orlando Sentinel as stating that Anderson was sentenced in July 2011 to one year’s probation and a $4000 fine.

A 32-year-old man was arrested for repeatedly flashing a green laser at a National Guard helicopter that was patrolling Camden, New Jersey. Nelson Villalobos Jr. was charged with Interference with Transportation in the April 8 incident.

According to CBS 3, the pilot was “blinded” which caused “difficulty in flying the air craft.” Police on the ground located Villalobos, who admitted to flashing the helicopter. He “thought it had been a news helicopter.”

A 47-year-old Springfield, Virginia man was charged with pointing a laser and a flashlight at a police helicopter. The incident happened on February 12, when helicopter crew members searching for a suspect in an unrelated case had their vision “blocked” by a green laser and a white light.

Police located the house where the lights were coming from. On March 4 they arrested Raymond Jeffrey Poli. He was charged on March 16 with interfering with the operation of an aircraft, endangering life, and obstruction of justice.

19-year-old Rodrigo Azevedo was arrested in a tourist area of Orlando, for shining a laser at an Orange County (FL) sheriff’s helicopter. The charge is a third-degree felony.

It happened early in the morning of January 28 2010, near International Drive and Interstate 4. The pilot was forced to break away from a law enforcement call, to avoid the “potentially blinding light”. An observer in the helicopter was able to track the laser to a “carload of young men” traveling on I-4. Other law enforcement officers stopped the car and arrested Azevedo.

News reports state “this is the fourth case of this type of crime in recent months. Last month [Dec. 2009] the Direct TV blimp was lasered on its final approach to Orlando Executive Airport after covering the Champs Bowl game in Orlando.”

An 18-year-old tried to “shoo away” a Sheriff’s Office helicopter with a 6-inch-long “high powered” laser pointer, because the noise was keeping him awake. Deputies soon arrived at Beau Richard Wallace’s home in Palm Harbor, Florida. They arrested him on a felony charge of misusing a laser lighting device, which is punishable by up to five years in prison.

Wallace said he was “just being stupid” and that he had owned the green laser pointer for only a week before the Dec. 17 incident.

A 17-year-old from South East Wales who shined a laser pen at a police helicopter in July 2009, has apologized in person to the crew. The youth, identified only as "Dennis" visited the crew as part of a "restorative justice programme" to show the implications of his actions.

The pilot was quoted as saying "Dennis has learned how dangerous this type of incident can be, and I hope that others will understand the same lesson."

Torben Merriott, 63, was arrested for shining a flashlight (torch) at an RAF Apache helicopter, after being awakened at 1 am by two gunships which were on a military exercise. The arrest for was "suspicion of endangering an aircraft by dazzling the pilot." He was held for nine hours before being bailed out of jail. The charge carries a maximum sentence of two years in jail.

Merriott said the gunships sounded like an "earthquake" and were "10 feet above my garden" in his farmhouse near Eye, Suffolk. News reports said he used the flashlight to identify the aircraft, during the September 18 2009 incident.

The flashlight was readily available and cost £8.45 (US $13.86). Merriott owns a theatrical lighting firm that has lit flying helicopters at a Buckingham Palace event. He insists he did not put the aircraft at risk: "Don't tell the Taliban that all they need is an eight-quid torch to bring down multi-million-pound high-tech gunships."

UPDATE: Charges were dropped two days after the incident. Merriott said he was considering making an official complaint: "I cannot help feeling that to keep me locked up for nine hours is pretty vindictive, when I was happy to make a statement. It was heavy handed and I think they were trying to teach me a lesson."

A 22-year-old Columbus (Ohio) area man was arrested and charged with a felony, after shining a green laser gunsight onto a medical helicopter and then an investigating police helicopter. Officers on the ground found Jared T. Shapiro with the laser, attached to a high-powered rifle.

Three men from the Buffalo, New York area face felony criminal charges after pointing a green laser at a FedEx airplane and at a local sheriff's helicopter. The helicopter was used to locate the men, Timothy J. Voigt (42), his son Eric Voigt (20) and Bradley J. Campbell (28), who all face multiple counts of felony reckless endangerment. Local officials said the crime "is being reviewed by the FAA and the FBI, with the possibility of additional federal charges."

The helicopter pilot was quoted as saying that if you shine laser pointers at pilots, "there's a good chance you're going to wind up in jail. At the worst, you could bring down an aircraft and kill a lot of people."

Two men were arrested and charged with felonies, accused of aiming a laser pointer at a commercial airplane as it approached Port Columbus (Ohio) International Airport on September 14. They also are accused of pointing the laser at a Columbus police helicopter.

Dennis Smoke, 45, was arrested with Levi Milstead, 19. Each is charged with two counts of pointing a laser at an aircraft and one count each possession of criminal tools. Conviction carries a maximum penalty of eight years in prison and a $15,000 fine.

A 32-year-old man was arrested in Reading, about 50 miles west of London, for shining a green laser beam on a police helicopter. The officers on board used cameras to guide ground units to the suspect. The man was charged with endangering police officers.

A police spokesperson was quoted as saying “Shining a laser at an aircraft is extremely dangerous. The front windscreen has thousands of tiny scratches on its surface, which diffract the laser beam in every direction. Essentially, the laser beam lights up the whole of the windscreen in a bright glow, which can potentially blind the pilot."

Peter Hind, 38, of Shirebrook in Nottinghamshire, UK, was sentenced to 150 hours of community service for aiming a green laser at a police helicopter. He would have received eight months in jail, except that he is the only caregiver for his 12-year-old son. The judge said “he made a stupid mistake but sending him to prison would punish his child more.”From the Mirror.

18-year-old Dustin Brown of Carmichael, California was arrested August 19 2009 for aiming a laser at a California Highway Patrol (CHP) helicopter. He was charged with a felony; the maximum penalty under state law is three years in jail; under federal law it is 20 years and a $250,000 fine.

The story noted that “at least six other people have been busted for pointing lasers at aircraft in the Sacramento area over the past several months.”

A 29-year-old man from Roseville, CA was arrested and indicted for shining a green laser at a Southwest Airlines flight and at a police helicopter looking for the source of the Southwest incident. The incident occurred on March 16 2009. On April 2, he was indicted by a grand jury.

The acting U.S. Attorney, Larry Brown, stated in a press release “Federal authorities have recognized lasing of aircraft as an increasingly serious problem and have formed a working group to investigate and prosecute offenders. This is because the focused beams of a laser remain powerful even at a long distance and can expose pilots to radiation [light] levels above those considered to be flight safe. Brief exposure to even a relatively low-powered laser beam can cause discomfort and temporary visual impairments, such as glare, flash blind, and afterimages."Click to read more...

A Utah man killed himself September 17 2009, shortly before being sentenced for aiming a laser at a Utah National Guard helicopter.

On February 19 2009, Joshua Don Park allegedly pointed a green laser beam two times at the Apache helicopter as it was flying over the Bluffdale area, about 20 miles south of Salt Lake City. Pilot Ken Samson said “It was strong enough that it illuminated my window, but not the entire cabin.” According to Samson, the laser was brighter than a laser pen, but was not a “military grade” laser.

The air crew notified the Salt Lake County Sheriff’s Office of the approximate location. A deputy went door to door. When they encountered Park, the 30-year-old said he had a laser pointer to play with his cats. Park admitted that he had shined a laser at the aircraft.

According to the Sheriff’s Office, Park “believed that the helicopter was way too far away for it to make an impact or even see [sic]”

Park was charged on March 11 2009 with one count of interference with the operation of an aircraft. He faces a maximum of 20 years in prison and up to a $250,000 fine.

UPDATED - August 31 2017: A National Guard pilot told the South Valley Journal that Park committed suicide shortly before he could be sentenced. Park died September 17 2009, according to a September 20 obituary in the Deseret News which included this photo:

The South Valley Journal article implied that Park’s suicide was linked to the laser incident, and that it changed how the National Guard reacted to laser incidents. The article stated “Since that sobering incident, no Utah National Guard pilots have reported lasing incidents to the FBI—but not for lack of occurrences.”

Pilots on 12 jetliners landing at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport on Sunday, Feb. 22 2009, reported that someone was shining a green laser light into their cockpits.

All the planes were targeted during a 20-minute period Sunday night, and all landed safely. But the incident led to pilots simultaneously trying to avoid being temporarily blinded by the light while trying to help authorities pinpoint its source, believed to be about a mile north of the airport.

Air traffic controllers continuously cautioned pilots about the light during the episode, which lasted from 7:10 to 7:30 p.m. PT.

A pilot reported the source to be a block and a half west of an interstate. Airport authorities said they conducted two searches of the area but did not find the culprit.

Officials note that it is a federal crime to point a laser light at an aircraft, and pilots are required to report encounters with laser lights. Officials fear that the lights could cause an accident by blinding pilots or otherwise affecting their night vision.

The FBI has “made it a priority” to investigate laser incidents, according to CNN reporter Jeanne Meserve.. MSNBC reports that the Transportation Safety Administration is also involved in the investigation. Additional details from CNN and MSNBC. A CNN video of the news story “Lasers aimed at planes”, reported by Jeanne Meserve, is also available from CNN’s website. The video adds information on the FBI which is not in the website print version.UPDATE: On March 6 2009, police arrested Christopher C. Saunders on the felony charge of first-degree unlawful discharge of a laser. His apartment is in Burien, near the area where the lasers originated. According to the Seattle Times, Saunders told police he was “pointing the light in multiple directions outside a party and may have layered a plane.” From KOMOnews and the Seattle Times.UPDATE #2: A March 25 2009 AP story stated that Saunders had been released with no charges filed against him. The story also noted that a laser was aimed at an Alaska Airlines flight landing at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport. The source of the laser was “near the source of previous laser reports.” From SignOnSanDiego quoting KOMO television..

A young Auckland, New Zealand man is facing up to 14 years in prison for allegedly shining a high-powered laser pointer at the police helicopter Eagle - which promptly hunted him down.

Police say the helicopter is being targeted by lasers almost weekly and want the government to follow Australia's lead in banning possession of the high-powered lasers and introducing a specific charge for laser-pointing.

"Because I don't want to crash, and that's exactly what's going to happen," says pilot and senior constable Shane Gayley. "Helicopters don't glide. There's only one way down and you're screaming all the way."Click to read more...

A Thurston County man who was fooling around with a laser pointer could face federal charges after pointing the laser at a Washington State Patrol airplane.

"In our environment at night where there's little light, if we're temporarily blinded, we may lose our ability to see the ground, see the instruments,” said Trooper Jonathan Aames.

The troopers on board the airplane are usually looking for speeders or drunk drivers, but last Saturday night, they used their infrared cameras to find Tony Rhodes, the person 2,000 feet below who was flashing their plane with the green laser pointer.Click to read more...

Contending with a nationwide surge in the number of laser incidents disrupting the piloted skies, the Sheriff's Office and the FBI came down hard on 22-year-old Thomas Kiefer and his family. After identifying the house on Dillman Road west of West Palm Beach, they arrived with a search warrant and assault rifles that the family says were pointed at them as agents tossed through drawers and closets in search of lasers. They confiscated 10 lasers.

Kiefer, 22, spent the night in jail and faces a third-degree felony.

Kiefer and his parents, Thomas and Kathleen, were taken by surprise. They said they weren't given a chance to read the search warrant and were forced outside as agents searched the house, threw their belongings on the floor and kicked in the door to Kiefer's room, while his mother stood out back shouting, "Don't break the door down, I have the key."Click to read more...

A Sydney mechanic who deliberately shone a laser into the eyes of police as they hovered in a helicopter hundreds of metres above homes in Sydney's northwest was yesterday sentenced to six months jail.

Zakary Patrick Babet, of Bella Vista, was yesterday convinced in Hornsby Local Court of interfering with a crew member while in an aircraft.

Magistrate Leslie Brennan called Babet a "fool", and labelled his actions as a "serious" offence.Click to read more...

A New Jersey man was charged January 4 2005 under federal anti-terrorism laws with shining a laser beam at a charter jet flying over his home, temporarily distracting the pilots.

David W. Banach, 38, of Parsippany NJ is the first person charged in a rash of recent incidents in which lasers were shined at aircraft around the country. Justice Department officials said they do not suspect terrorism in any of the cases, but said Banach's arrest shows how seriously they take the matter.

Sentenced to two years probation; serious charges dropped

"We need to send a clear message to the public that there is no harmless mischief when it comes to airplanes," said Christopher Christie, the U.S. attorney for New Jersey.

Banach made an initial appearance in court Tuesday and was released on $100,000 bond. He was charged with interfering with a flight crew under the USA Patriot Act. He also was charged with lying to federal officers. The charges carry a maximum jail sentence of 25 years.

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